


Utterly and Passionately

by smallandstrange



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Corporate, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awesome Phasma, Awesome Rey, Awkward Flirting, Ben Solo vs. children, Bisexual Male Character, Bottom Hux, Bottom Kylo Ren, Demisexuality, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, Everyone Has Issues, Everyone Is Gay, Hate to Love, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, M/M, Meta, Mild Kink, Military Backstory, Online Safety, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Poor Hux, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Top Hux, Top Kylo Ren, ben and rey are besties, biker rey, the knights of ren
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-05-21 03:05:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 38,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6035554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallandstrange/pseuds/smallandstrange
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brendol Hux is the head of finance at Starkiller: an internationally renowned tech/social media conglomerate. Ben Solo is the temperamental silicon valley-bred wunderkind idea man. Hux hates him. Ben Solo hates him back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. CH 1

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't find tags for this, but theres a good bit of everyone's favorite cat MILLICENT!!!  
> Enjoy!

Brendol Hux was agreeable. He was not happy. He was not nice. Happy and nice did not get things done. Agreeable got things done. Organized got things done. Following orders and going by the book got things done. Brendol Hux had two exactly two friends in this entire world, and only one was human. This is not to say that he was hated. Almost everyone at the Starkiller company liked the Head of Finance, and he liked them well enough; even that one accountant who cried all the time. There was only one person at Starkiller who Hux did not like. There was only one person who he utterly and passionately loathed. This was of course Ben Solo. Ben Solo was the ingénue darling of the international tech scene. He had started his career after he dropped out of Harvard at the age of 19 and moved to California and had been making waves ever since. Ben may have only been a few years younger than Hux, but in Hux’s eyes Ben was an entitled, self involved silicon-valley brat with no regard for the rules. President Snoke and the share-holders were completely under the spell of this charismatic boy genius and even Hux had to agree that he was a valuable asset to the company, but he was moody, eccentric and most-definitely not agreeable. Hux hated him.

“The success of a company like Starkiller lies in one thing and that one thing is people.”

Hux watched from his seat in the boardroom as Ben paced back and forth, gesticulating wildly. He was snowballing into one of his infamous soliloquys again. He always wondered how one man go from perhaps saying two words for a whole month to manic rhapsodizing at such a speed?

“It’s all about the people. It’s about knowing them. Getting into their thoughts.” He tapped his head for emphasis.

“If we tap into that force; into that zeitgeist, there’s nothing we can’t do.”

Everyone wore crisp suits; a sea of gray and navy all except for Ben in his famous uniform of black tees, ripped up jeans and a pair of ancient and abused black converse sneakers. Such disregard for professional dress code made Hux’s blood boil. 

“Mr. Solo, if I may.” Hux began. 

“Your input is always most appreciated.” Ben’s tone was more than a little sarcastic.

“As head of finances, I must say that the costs of these drones more than offsets any positive outcome from their use. Also, what you are proposing is spying, as well as data-mining. Please consider…”

“If I wanted legal advice I would have asked a lawyer.” He interrupted, running a hand through his messy black hair.

“It doesn’t take a lawyer to know that this is entirely illegal and an egregious breach of security.” There was little inflection in Hux’s voice. He was used to being the voice of reason amidst a company full of mad geniuses with a seeming endless supply of ridiculous ideas. He had almost grown numb to it as the long suffering barrier between these glorified children and the limitless supply of money and resources they wanted to use in their outrageous and sometimes ethically dubious antics, and of course, Ben was always trying to get arise out of Hux.

Ben rubbed his temples and sighed, bowing his head.

“Brendol, Brendol, Brendol…” Ben’s voice was at a whisper. He sauntered over to where Hux was seated and leaned towards him until their noses almost touched, but Hux only stared unblinking at Ben. He would not be intimidated by this lanky man-child. A tense fog and the silence of death fell over the room and all eyes were on Hux.

“If people like you were in charge of the world, we would still be in the fucking Stone Age!” Ben spat, his voice dripping with distain. 

_“Son of a bitch.”_ Hux’s jaw clenched.

“I think anyone with half a brain can see that you…”

“That is your problem! You are not a thinker, you are a drone! I am a thinker!” Ben shouted, jabbing his thumb to his own chest.  
“Your tiny brain cannot comprehend the depth of my creativity! I am trying to lead this world into the future, and here you are… Clinging to the comfort and banality of your small and insignificant worldview! Brendol Hux, you are everything that is wrong with our society!”

Ben turned on his heel and stormed out of the office. Down the hall, Hux heard the door slam.

“Well, ladies and gentleman.” Hux began while closing his laptop. 

“I do believe this meeting is finished. You may all go to lunch now, thank you for your time.” 

Yes. Brendol Hux utterly and passionately despised Ben Solo.


	2. CH 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor Hux, Millicent is his only friend in this cruel world.  
> Also, warning for SEX.

Hux was finishing the lunch he packed in his locked office when he heard a knock at the door.

“Come in.” he said, swallowing the last bite of apple.

A thin bald man entered Hux’s office.

“Hello, Brendol.” 

Without thinking, Hux stood up at attention. “President Snoke.” He greeted.

“Please, sit.” Snoke said chuckling softly. 

Hux’s ears reddened a little as he sat down. Old habits died hard.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I wanted to remind you that I need the proposals for next quarter by the end of this week.”

“Of course, sir. I’ll have them on your desk by this evening.”

“Excellent news. Your promptness is always appreciated. How was today’s meeting with Mr. Solo and the board?”

“Nothing abnormal.”

Snoke laughed quietly. “I noticed he left in a rather foul mood. I take it you said something about the drones?”

“So you’d talked to him first, I take it?”

“Of course not. I leave that to you every time.”

“Ah. I see.” He truly was the barrier between Ben Solo and the defenseless innocent world.

“You know, Brendol, if he didn’t get angry with you, it would mean he wasn’t listening to you. He only hates you because he knows you’re right. I suspect that he even respects you quite a bit.”

“I would have never known.” Hux said with a facetious tone in his voice.

“He has a certain… brand to uphold. The board members and the other employees admire the unstable genius image he projects. It makes him seem qualified.”

“Qualified how?”

“People trust the ideas of an eccentric thinker. The investors are paying for limitless ideas and boundless creativity, and Ben Solo has that in spades. I prefer the concept of a logical and ordered mind. That is why I hired you. You keep this entire company afloat so that the dreamers may continue to dream.”

“Thank you, President Snoke. I’m flattered.” Hux said, shifting at the unexpected praise.

“No need to thank me, but it is such a thankless job. It doesn’t make many friends.”

“It’s not my job to make friends.”

Snoke smirked. “You certainly have come by your nickname honestly, General.” 

Snoke then stood up and left the office.

Hux rolled his eyes once the door closed

“Such a stupid nickname… I was never even a General...” He muttered to himself once he was sure Snoke was out of earshot.

Hux was a self-made man. Every single achievement was something he had sweated and bled for. An army brat, he was raised from childhood to be a paragon of obedience and order. Throughout high school and college, he was a member of the ROTC and had served in the military for several years afterwards before he worked for Starkiller. The rigid nature of army life had never left him, and he treated his job at Starkiller with the same sense of solemnity and duty as a soldier would. This made him very successful at his job, and although he had no enemies at Starkiller, his behavior had earned him the nickname “General Hux.” 

Hux could hear them talk when they thought he wasn’t listening.

“You’d better get those emails to General Hux before the deadline.” 

“General Hux says we’re working late tonight again.” 

“Don’t let General Hux catch you touching the thermostat!”

It wasn’t like he cared. It was just as he said. He was not here to make friends.

Later that day, one of the accountants came by his office to review the reports.

“It seems everything is in order. I’ll get these to President Snoke.”

“Thank you Gen- Mr. Hux. I’ll not bother you any longer.” The accountant turned crimson and moved towards the door.

“Wait, Ms. Jenkins…” She turned around, facing the floor.

“Yes, Mr. Hux?” she mumbled.

“Do people think I’m… harsh?”

Her eyes darted around the room.

“We all… I wouldn’t… You are a very competent boss, Mr. Hux!” she said before rushing out the door.

As he was buttoning up his gray wool coat and getting ready to leave for the evening, Hux heard a strange sound coming from the main lobby. It was a choked, sobbing sound, like weeping. He opened his door. Several of the interns were crowded around in a circle looking at something on the newest Starkiller phone. They were all hysterical with laughter. He ignored them and walked towards the front door. One of them glanced up. Seeing Hux, his eyes widened and his body seized up. The phone in his hand flipped into the air and landed at Hux’s feet, screen down.

“Oh, let me get that!” The intern practically dived towards him, his voice frantic and… scared?

“It’s no trouble at…” Hux froze when he turned the phone over and saw the screen. Someone had taken a candid shot of Hux without his knowledgeand used a phone app to draw a cartoonish furrowed brow and a nazi uniform onto him. The words GENERAL GINGER were scrawled across the picture…

The intern looked like he might start crying. Slowly and deliberately, Hux handed the phone back to him as the other interns looked on in silent horror. 

“Skarkiller phones are of the highest quality and extremely durable, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still be careful with them.”

“Yes, sir.” The intern squeaked, his voice cracking. 

Hux was more solemn than usual as he took the subway home. He didn’t care whether his colleagues liked him, but it troubled him to think that they might not respect him.

“Stop it, Hux. They’re just interns; practically children. What do you care what they think?”

15 minutes later, he walked through the door of his immaculate brownstone.

“I’m home.” He announced with a tired sigh, closing the door behind him.

A loud yowling sound erupted in the foyer as a large orange tabby ran up and jumped into his arms.

“I missed you too, Millie girl!” Hux cooed at the portly feline in his arms.

“You don’t think I’m a mean fascist, do you Millicent?”

The cat meowed with impatience.

“What do you care?” He walked to the kitchen. “You just like me because I feed you.”

Millicent purred in response, nuzzling against his chest.

While Millicent inhaled her dry food, Hux poured a single glass of red wine and made some pasta for himself while listening to an old jazz record. After he ate and washed the dishes, he changed out of his suit and into a casual gray button-down and dark jeans. 

“Bye-bye, Millicent. Behave yourself while I’m out.”

Hux grabbed his coat off of the hook by the door and left.

“I hate places like this.” Hux thought to himself as he sipped on a vodka tonic at the bar, surveying the chaotic scene before him with a scowl.

“Too loud and bright. You can hardly hear what anyone is saying.”

Of course, Hux was not there to converse. He was here because even a voluntary bachelor like himself had needs. Needs that the man with a jawline cut like a diamond eyeing him from the back of the club could certainly help him with.

They were already tearing each other’s clothes off the moment the door clicked shut. The flannel clad Adonis devoured Hux’s mouth as Hux led him to the bedroom by his broad shoulders, unbuttoning his shirt with quick precision. He threw Hux down on the bed and crawled on top of him with a ravenous glint in his eyes. Hux grabbed the man’s cock, stroking it. The man growled at him, low and feral.

“You’re quite well-endowed, my Adonis.”

The other man laughed, shuddering with pleasure. 

“Th-that’s not my name.” His voice was breathless, but he managed to crack a half-smile at Hux 

“I don’t give a fuck what your name is.” Hux said before pushing himself on top and biting his neck, increasing the speed with which he was pumping the man’s stiffened member. He let go and swiped a condom off of the nightstand before crawling down the man’s taut body, dragging his fingernails lightly across the glorious eight-pack and taking him into his mouth. The man groaned in response.

“Come to think of it.” He said in between ecstatic grunting. “I don’t know your name either.”

Hux paused and looked up, wiping his mouth with his forearm.

“You don’t need to know my name to fuck me like an animal.”

A lurid smile spread across the other man’s face before he pounced on Hux.

If he took the time to think about it, Hux would probably agree that he had issues with intimacy. That was not to say that he had issues with sex. He had a normal amount of sex. Sex was not the problem. Sex was entertaining, pleasant and afterwards you could kick them out and go to bed. Hux took issue where the physical aspect ended and the emotional part of it began. The nameless man was a decent fuck. He stayed until 11 and left without incident. Hux took a shower, read for a while and went to bed. Intimacy and feelings were complicated and messy. They were disorganized, they made you feel powerless and lose sleep. Hux thought to himself that he preferred things this way, as he drifted off to sleep, scratching Millicent behind the ear.


	3. CH 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben can be a real dick sometimes, or maybe he's just bad at flirting... You decide!

Monday morning, Hux woke up at exactly 5am, shaved, went for a run, showered, made himself a smoothie, fed Millicent and left for work. It was below zero outside, but the sun was shining and there was no wind, so Hux decided he would walk to work. It was by all accounts a completely normal morning. Nothing could have prepared him for the fresh hell that awaited him at Starkiller. The sound of electric keyboard and a smooth sonorous saxophone assaulted his ears as he entered the office. It sounded as though it was coming from a room down the hall. He froze.

_“Oh no. No. No no nononono…”_

Then it happened.

“BAAAAAAAAAAYBAYYYYYYY! WE’RE GONNA MAKE LOVE TONIGHT!”  
“GONNA LAY YOU DOWN ON A BED OF ROSES AND HIT IT TILL THE MORNING LIGHT!”

The all too familiar voice crooned mercilessly at Hux, who still stood motionless in the doorway.

“YOU AND I KNOW WE’RE NOT JUST FRIENDS!”  
“SAY YOU’LL STAY WITH ME TILL THE END!”

Then the bass came in. The chorus would start soon. 

_“This isn’t happening. It’s just a nightmare, Hux. You’ll wake up soon.”_

“What the hell is this anyway?” one of the interns whispered to an accountant.

“MY WOOOOOOOOOOOOMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!”

“I know. This is god-awful. This is literally the worst fucking thing I’ve ever heard.”

“MY WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMAAAAAAANNNNNNNNAAAHHHH!!!!” The voice trailed off into a most unfortunate falsetto riff.

“Hey Mr. Hux. Do you know what’s going on?”

“No! No I don’t!” he half shouted, racing down the hall towards the music. 

He stopped in front of the door. He should have known. He should have fucking known.

“BAYYYYYYYBAYYYYYYYYYYYY! I GOTTA LAY IT ON THE LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!!!!!”  
“YOU’RE OH SO SEXY AND YOU’RE OH SO FIIIIIIIIIIIINE!!!”

Ben Solo’s office was very much a reflection of his soul. It was sparse and littered with takeout containers. It was dim inside. Where the main light had been ripped out a few wires still dangled from the ceiling. The walls were lined with string lights and a lava lamp stood in one corner. In the other corner sat Ben Solo in a bean bag chair, typing away on his shiny chrome StarBook laptop. Next to him was a massive, ancient boom box. He did not look up from the computer when Hux burst through the door, his face flushed bright red.

“What the hell is this?” He said in a vehement whisper, barely audible over the saxophone solo. He knew that this was Ben’s way of getting revenge for Hux not giving him the attention he wanted at the meeting the other day, but he didn’t care. 

“Oh, the music?” Ben responded in a pleasant manner. “It’s a delightful little band called ‘The Bad Bangin’ Daddies’. Fun fact, all the band members were soldiers serving in the same division. This is their first and only album: ‘Sensual Declaration’. Why do you ask, Brendol?” He looked up at Hux innocently from the beanbag chair.

“You know exactly what I mean.” Hux replied through gritted teeth. “Where did you get this?”

“The cassette tape? Bought it off of Ebay.” 

“I swear, if you’ve hacked me… If you’ve been spying on me…”

Ben chuckled. The smug expression on his face was infuriating.  
“Please, Brendol. You can find anything on the internet.” He reached over to the boom box and switched it off, never breaking eye contact with Hux. 

“No hacking necessary.” He added with a smirk. 

Hux shot daggers at him before slamming the door and going back to work.

Somehow, Hux managed to make it through the day without having a stroke, despite the fact that every single employee at Starkiller now knew the chorus to “My Woman” by The Bad Bangin’ Daddies by heart. He would rather have come in and found pictures of his escapades from the night before taped all over the office walls than this: his most secret of shames. And yet, he made it through the day. By some miracle even Ben Solo had the good sense not to fully reveal Hux’s role in all this. For this, at least, he was thankful.

A gentle knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

“Come in.”

There was a pause before the door creaked open. It was Ben, his expression was one of feigned sheepishness.

“If you have something to say, then say it Mr. Solo.” Hux spat.

He only stood there, smirking at him before snorting with stifled laughter.

“If you don’t have anything to say then quit wasting my time and get out.”

“You’re not so bad… General Ginger.” He said before walking out, whistling to himself. When Hux realized the melody he was whistling, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.


	4. CH 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get a little awkward for Hux.  
> Also, sick Ben. Like really really sick. Like not even cute sick.

_“His skin is so soft.”_ Hux mused to himself, running his hands up and down the slender limbs.

They were completely entangled as they kissed passionately. The other man broke the kiss. Hux cupped the side of his face gently and ran a thumb over his bowed rosy lips.

 _“My God, that mouth.”_ He thought in a haze of arousal.

The man’s lips were beautiful, almost sensual the way they were juxtaposed with his pale skin, most of his face obscured by jet black hair. The lips parted and began sucking on Hux’s thumb in the obscenest way possible. Hux groaned as the sensation jolted down between his legs. He withdrew his hand from the other man’s face, grabbed a handful of his hair and pushed him down towards his crotch and began sighing at the feeling of that amazing mouth on his cock.  
Hux looked down at the man pleasuring him, running his fingers through the dark hair. There was a dark glimmer in the man’s eye. He stopped and looked up, brushing the hair from his face. 

“You like that, Brendol?” Ben Solo asked, his voice dripping with seduction.

Hux shot awake, letting out an undignified half shout. His heart was racing and he was incredibly, painfully hard. 

“What the hell was that?” He asked out loud to himself.

Millicent stopped her grooming at the foot of the bed and stared at him with a look of harsh judgment on her little cat face before returning to her grooming.

When Hux jerked off in the shower he made a pointed effort not to think of anything- or anyone, that is- in particular.

_“It was just a dream, Hux. People have weird sex dreams all the time.” Hux told himself on the subway ride to work._

_“Yes. It happens. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything. It definitely doesn’t mean anything.”_

Hux tried not to make eye contact with anyone as he entered the building.

_“How could it mean anything? You absolutely despise that man.”_

He threw himself into his work as a distraction.

“Brendol.” Hux nearly dropped his tea at the sound of his name being called. He turned around and flinched. It was Ben. Ben looked terrible.

He lifted up a thick manila folder to show Hux. 

“The proposal.” He rasped. The exposed parts of his face that were not obscured by messy dark hair and the hood of a lint covered gray hoody were dripping with mucus. “You’re supposed to help me revise it.”

_“How could I have ever had any kind of sexual thoughts about this… this creature?!”_

“Fine.” Hux sighed, opening the door and showing Ben inside before dousing his hands with sanitizer. He checked his phone for the time and swore under his breath. It was almost noon now, and these damned proposal revisions could take days. The last thing he wanted to do was fight Ben Solo on hundreds of outrageous demands and nitpick thousands more minute details with him, and he wanted to do all of this with a sick Ben Solo even less. 

“For the last time, Mr. Solo. No drones and that is final.” Hux said, stretching his arms. It was nearly 6:00. Millicent would be in a fit if he didn’t give her dinner by 6:30, and that cat could hold a grudge.

“There will be drones, and that is final.” Ben ordered, his forcible tone undercut by a fit of pitiful coughing. He was slumped in the chair limply, glaring at Hux.

“Fine. One drone.”

“Fine.”

“And we’re hiring a lawyer. This thing is going to be completely on the up and up.”

Ben mumbled something under his breath about breaking rules and changing the world.

“Fine.” He huffed, before wiping his nose across the sleeve of his biohazard of a hoody.  
All and any sexual feelings Hux felt earlier had completely evaporated by now.

“Maybe you wouldn’t be in such a foul mood all the time if you took yourself less seriously.”  
Hux said absent-mindedly as he scribbled in some calculations on the expense report.

Ben sneezed. “Oh really? I take myself too seriously? You’re even worse than those pricks at Harvard!”

“What? I thought I wasn’t so bad.” Hux said with an acidic edge to his voice.

“This isn’t about good or bad, Brendol. You’re so close-minded that you can’t handle that some people are trying to change the world!”

Hux slammed the report down on his desk. “How are you this arrogant? You block me at every turn. And for what? For some ridiculous million-dollar ego trip?”

Ben’s cynical laughter turned into a coughing fit. “Do you really think this has anything to do with you at all? I think you’re the arrogant one here. Did it ever occur to you in your tiny, gray, square-shaped mind that I have never done this for the fame, or the glory, or all those stupid greedy fucking investors who just want a piece of the action? That I might actually do this because I have to?!”

“Oh, please. What are you going on about? You don’t have to do anything.” 

“Yes. Yes I do. I do this because I have a vision, and if I don’t do everything in my power to strive for that vision, my soul will shrivel up and die. Isn’t there anything that you feel that way about?” Then, he collapsed into another fit of coughing.

Hux felt as though Ben had struck him.

“Let’s just get this over with. We’re hardly even halfway done.” He said, his voice devoid of emotion. 

The next several hours went by with less dissent than before, which was still a good bit of dissent, but it was much more civil now.

Hux looked at his phone and his heart skipped a beat. It was past midnight.

“Mr. Solo, we’re going to have to wrap up for the night. We can continue tomorrow morning.”

This was going to completely screw up his sleep schedule. He was supposed to be up in less than five hours. 

“Absolutely not.” Ben was adamant. “Snoke wants these revisions done by tomorrow morning.”

“That’s not my problem.”

“It absolutely is your problem.” He croaked. “And I’m sick and fucking tired of all you corporate drones thinking I’m some kind of fucking slacker. I can get shit done, too. But we have to work together.”

“Please spare me the…”

“Don’t even try denying it. I hear people talk.”

“Oh really? Don’t act all wounded when I know good and well about… ‘General Ginger’.”

Ben choked out a tired sigh. The only noise was the scratching of Hux’s pencil on the papers. 

“Look.” Ben started before hacking up both of his lungs. “Look, it was just a joke. Nobody hates you or disrespects you or anything.”

More pencil scratching.

“I’m sorry, Brendol.”

Hux was certain this was the first time he heard Ben Solo genuinely apologize for anything. Perhaps his weakened state made him more docile. 

“Thank you, Mr. Solo.”

At 1:07 exactly, Hux and Ben finished the revisions. 

“Well, it looks like we’re finally done. If you don’t mind, I’m going to take these up to…”

Ben was curled up sideways in the chair, his long legs crammed up against his chest. He was mouth breathing loudly. He looked so different, with his facial expressions softened. So calm, almost peaceful. But his face was flushed and feverish. He began shivering. Almost reflexively, Hux picked up his grey coat and laid it over the huddled snot-monster sleeping his office. He sprinted across the street to the 24-hour convenience store and then back to the office with a plastic bag that he placed on the floor next to Ben.

After hailing a cab home (there was no way in hell he was going to walk home in such weather without a coat), de-escalating an incredibly heated situation with Millicent (with tuna) and getting a few hours of sleep (dreamless), Hux returned to work. 

Ben stirred at the sound of the office door opening. 

“Good morning, Mr. Solo.”

“Did you fucking lock me in here last night?”

_“Oh shit. I didn’t think about that.”_

“Whatever, it’s whatever.” Ben slurred. He looked like a sweaty corpse. He winced as he sat up.

“What’s this?” he asked motioning to the bag.

“Just a few things I picked up last night, some ibuprofen, Vitamin C tabs and alka-selzer. Thought you might need it.”

“Well isn’t that sweet?” Ben said before choking on attempted laughter.

“Mr. Solo, I may have perhaps misjudged you. I have always seen that President Snoke sees you as a valuable asset to Starkiller… He is correct in this assessment. You are…”

He cleared his throat.

“You are… not incompetent, Mr. Solo.”

“Just call me Ben like everybody else.” He responded, waving off Hux’s indirect compliment, trying to stand up.

“All that being said,” Hux began right before picking up the bag and shoving it towards Ben.

“You are a walking human petri-dish. For the love of Christ, go home and get some rest.”

Ben glared at Hux. 

“Don’t worry.” He continued. “I’ll make sure these reports get to President Snoke.”

“Fine. I’ll go home.”

“Ben.”

“Huh?”

“You’re not bad either.”


	5. CH 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who let these socially-awkward children flirt with each other???

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The texting dialogue grammar sort of mirrors that of real life texting. [sic] implied.

Hux did not see Ben again for the rest of the day. He did not see him the next day either. The day after that, he was eating his lunch in contemplative silence when the door to his office opened unannounced. 

“Good afternoon, Ben. Feeling better?”

He responded by slapping something onto his desk. 

“What is that?”

“Starbucks gift card.”

“For me?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m not much of a coffee person, but thank you.”

“Well I had to find a way to pay you back for your little care package the other day, and I like coffee.”

“That’s kind of you. I suppose…”

“I want coffee.”

“Okay.” Hux felt confused. 

“You should get me coffee. With the gift card.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“There’s other stuff at Starbucks too. Like, it’s not only coffee.” Ben replied, shifting his weight back and forth on his feet.

Hux felt even more confused.

Ben looked at Hux as though he was trying to explain a very simple concept to a particularly dull child.

“There’s still an hour left before your next meeting, Brendol.” He prompted.

_“Wait, is he…?”_

“Come on. Get your coat on.” He said before leaving the office.

“Oh.”

Hux stood up, grabbed his coat and left the office in a rush.

Ben was standing outside in the office’s front doorway. He was wearing a black knit hat, a black hoody that was not covered in lint and a gray scarf. Ben made eye contact with Hux and began walking, motioning for Hux to follow. They were silent the entire way to the Starbucks. Something about this situation felt unnerving.

_“Quit acting like a nervous schoolgirl, Hux. It’s only coffee. He’s just trying to make peace.”_

They were standing in line when Ben began petting Hux’s shoulder casually.

“What are you doing, Ben?”

“What’s it made out of?”

“It’s actually a blend of merino and… No. Stop touching me.” He said, irked. He smacked Ben’s hand away.

“It’s cozy. Made a nice blanket.”

Hux’s ears blushed slightly. What on earth had made him put his own coat over Ben like a sleeping child? He didn’t even think it through. He just… did it. 

“Earl Grey tea for Brenda and a black coffee for Kyle?” The barista interrupted.

“That’s us.” Hux said, thankful for a break in the awkward silence.

“Ugh. Sugar? That’s really gonna fuck with the Bergamot notes.” 

_“How the hell does that black-sludge drinking Philistine even know what Bergamot is?”_

“Would mind not critiquing how I fix my tea?”

“Fine. I’m going to go find a table.” He said, walking away. Then he stopped, turned around and went back to Hux. Very slowly Ben leaned towards Hux, his lips almost touching his ear.

“But it’s going to taste awful.” He whispered before plopping down at a small table.

Hux glared back at Ben. With slow deliberation and without breaking eye contact, he poured almost the entire pitcher of heavy cream into his cup. He liked his cream, sugar and splash of tea just fine.

They sipped their respective beverages in silence. Hux stared out the window. But every so often his gaze wandered to the man across the table from him. It made him uncomfortable when he realized that Ben’s eyes never left Hux. His brow furrowed into a serious expression. It was analytical. It was the same face he made at work when he was deep in thought puzzling out some problem or coming up with one of his wild ideas. 

“You’re making me uncomfortable.” Hux said, knowing that Ben appreciated a more forward manner of speaking.

Ben took a large swig of coffee and put it down on the table.

“You’re an interesting study.”

“Excuse me?”

“You are a stranger to me.”

“What are you talking about? We’ve been working at the same company for almost four years now.”

“And yet, I know next to nothing about you. So I’m getting to know you.”

“You’ve hardly said a word to me.”

“You’ve met the new intern, right? The real baby-faced looking one?”.

“Finn, right? Why?”

“He was a foster kid. Got scooped up by some majorly rich couple as their little pet project; their good deed for the world. But he’s barely ever seen them. Pretty much raised at a boarding school. He’s at NYU right now studying business while he’s got this internship. He’s been taking orders from one person or another his whole life and he is about to break. I will bet you money that the moment he graduates, he never does another business-related thing in his life. When he gets that diploma, he’s catching the next plane to Taiwan or Paris or somewhere else far away from here and he is never, ever coming back.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“Why? He’ll be happy for the first time in his life. He’ll finally get to write poetry or paint or whatever it is that he really wants to be doing.”

“I never knew you two were so close, Ben.”

“We’re not. I’ve never said a single word to him. Don’t need to. I have a real gift for people, you know..”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Look, I may not like people, but I know them very well. That is the key to my success.”

“Oh really? Well then what about me?”

“You?” Ben looked amused

“Yes. What are the thrilling results of your vast, in-depth research on me?”

Ben laughed. There was nothing cynical or sarcastic about it, and the spark of light in his nocturnal eyes was honest and open. Hux’s chest felt tight.

“That’s a secret.”

A sharp surge of annoyance ran through Hux’s veins and mingled with the quaint feeling in his chest. He found this mixture bothersome.

“A secret?”

“Well, not really. But your next meeting is in five minutes.”  
Hux practically leapt out of his chair and grabbed his things before rushing out the door. Somehow, Ben managed to catch up with Hux despite moving at a much more leisurely, effortless pace. 

“So?” Hux prompted.

“So what?”

“Can you tell me now?”

Ben laughed again. Something about his low, mischievous laughter made Hux’s hands hurt.

“What? Stop laughing at me.” Hux demanded.

“You,” Ben poked Hux’s arm. “Do not like the idea of people knowing your business.”

“Of course. That’s why it’s my business.” He said, pushing open the door to the office.

“Well, I make a point of knowing other people’s business. I guess you’re just going to have to live with that. And thanks for the coffee.” Ben flashed a half smile at him before slipping through the door to the stairwell.

“I guess you’re just going to have to live with that.” Hux mimicked once the elevator door was closed. What was wrong with him? Ben’s provocations were reducing him to some sassy child quipping to himself in a vacant elevator. What was it about the idea of someone knowing about him that set him on edge?

_“You idiot, he was making it all up to bother you. He can’t read people! No one can read people that well, and especially not him!”_

He managed to get through all his meetings, but he was incredibly on edge for the rest of the afternoon. He went home, made some coq au vin and read a book cuddled up next to Millicent. These were the kinds of nights that Hux enjoyed most. Not that he didn’t enjoy fucking the daddy issues out of vapid-eyed wannabe models in grimy bar bathrooms, but that was a means to an end more than anything and a very rare occasion as well. He much preferred being alone with Millicent. This was the only place he could really and truly relax and be himself.  
A loud buzzing noise drew Hux from his book. Millicent stirred slightly before going back to sleep under his arm. Very few people had his phone number, and even less ever texted him. He picked up the phone and was surprised to see that it was a number he did not recognize.

“Hey.” The text read.

Hux paused for a moment.

“who this is? I don’t know this number” He texted back, and then returned to his book.

His phone vibrated a moment later.

“Darth Vader.” Hux rolled his eyes and sighed.

“not really its just Ben”

How the hell did Ben Solo get his number? 

_“Company directory. Dammit.”_

“what do you want?” He finally sent back after some deliberation.

“Thanks for the coffee.”

“It was on the gift card you bought for me, so you technically paid for your coffee.”

“But it was a gift. So it all cancels out.”

“If you think about it I still haven’t properly thanked you.”

Then a second later, the phone buzzed again.

“I’m taking you to dinner tomorrow night. After work.”

“We’ll walk from the office.”

“I made the reservation for 7.”

What was happening?

“Are you still there?”

“Hello??”

“Yes. I am still here.”

“Dick! I’m offering you a free meal!!”

“Fine.”

“Fucking ungrateful sonofabitch”

“I said I’ll go. Calm down.”

“ok see you tomorrow.”

“okay.”

Hux was extremely confused

“goodnight Brendol”

“goodnight.”

As Hux drifted to sleep that night, he wondered what exactly he had gotten himself into.


	6. CH 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright, people! It's time for date (?) night!!

It was 6:25pm. Hux stood in the office bathroom gazing into his soul through the mirror by the sink. He was supposed to meet up with Ben to walk over to the restaurant in 5 minutes. The very thought of this made him nauseous. 

_“Stop being an idiot. What are you so worried about?”_

Perhaps it was the fact that he hadn’t been on a real date in almost three years.

_“Jesus, Hux this isn’t a fucking date. For all you know, Ben is straight!”_

Why did the thought of Ben being straight make him feel even worse?

 _“Look, this is a dinner between two colleagues. Nothing more. Stop acting like a moron.”_ Hux splashed his face with water, took a deep breath and walked out to meet Ben.

“Hey.” Ben nodded at him, his face wearing the slightest hint of a smile. Hux almost did not recognize him. His messy black hair had been tied into a knot at the back of his head. A few stray hairs popped out here and there, but his face looked so much more open. This was the first time Hux had ever gotten a good look at his features. It was as though Ben had never left his adolescent awkward stage. He wasn’t much taller than Hux, but he wore his height so much differently. He was lanky and thin, and his nose and ears were almost a little too big for his face. He had a large, wide pair of dark eyes to match as well and his fair skin had a scattering of moles across it. His lips really were perfect, too…

“Are we going or what, Brendol?”

“Yes. Of course.”

The weather was much more mild than it had been recently. It made for a nice walk.

He looked back at Ben. He wasn’t Hux’s type at all. Hux felt that maintaining one’s physical appearance was incredibly important. So when hooked up with some one, he looked for perfect human specimens. Golden ratio face, flawless body, very different from Ben to say the least. But God, they were vain. Vain and boring. Hux wondered what it was about having a perfect pair of tits or a massive cock and washboard abs that made you expect the other person to do all the work. What would it be like to fuck someone less… Conventionally attractive? 

“I’m going to have to ask you to stop staring at me. It’s pretty creepy.”

“Was not.” Hux muttered, looking away to hide that his face was nearly the color of his hair.

_“Stop it, Hux. Stop it now. You’re going to make a fool of yourself and you will never make it through this if you don’t stop entertaining such vulgar thoughts about your co-worker!”_

“Well this is it!” Ben exclaimed. It was a small vegan restaurant in one of those trendy neighborhoods that Hux despised. 

“I don’t blame you for staring.” Ben began as they were seated. “It must be difficult with me being so gorgeous.”

“That’s a bit of a stretch.”

“You wound me, Brendol!”

“You are literally the only person who calls me that, you know.”

“What? Brendol?”

“Yes. Don’t.”

“Aw, I thought we were both on a first name basis now. “ He said, feigning disappointment.

“It’s not about that… Brendol… I’m not Brendol. Brendol’s my father. I’m Hux. Just Hux.”

“Just Hux, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, Brendol.”

“Fine. You win.” Hux sighed.

“Nice. One point for Ben!”

“It’s not a game.” Hux rolled his eyes at the other man’s puerile antics.

“And Zero points…”

“Don’t.”

“For…”

“Don’t.”

“BRENDOL!”

“Idiot.” Hux mumbled before taking a sip of a kombucha cocktail infused with hibiscus.

Ben laughed that hearty laugh again; the one that made all the blood rush to Hux’s hands.

“You’ve got a real competitive streak, don’t you?” Ben prodded. “I bet you used to play sports in High School.”

“Nope. Too busy.”

“Really? I totally pegged you as a sports guy.”

“No sports for me.”

“Huh.” Ben’s expression was thoughtful. “Guess I was wrong.”

“One point for Hux.” Hux said, taking another sip of his drink.

Ben giggled like a small child. “There you go!” He praised, raising his craft beer and nodding with approval.

Their conversation continued on in waves, interspersed with an almost comfortable silence. All day Hux had wondered if he was going to see a completely different side of Ben and have some entirely new revelation about him as a person. This did not happen. Ben proved himself to be just as brash, opinionated and unrefined as Hux had thought. Okay, maybe it did surprise him a little bit to find out that Ben Solo was a vegan, but he was still the same cyclone of a human being Hux had worked with for four years. Only now, Hux realized he was growing to appreciate it; to admire it. The same intensity which made him so difficult also made him a thrilling conversationalist (and at times debate partner). In spite of himself, Hux was actually having fun. Maybe he didn’t hate Ben so much after all. Maybe he even had a third friend.

“I wonder if someone who works here has a thing for shitty 90s hits.” Ben commented.

Hux laughed. It was quiet, but genuine.

“I was thinking the same thing to myself. It’s taking me right back to prom night.”

“You went to prom? I’m trying to imagine what that looked like! Little High School Senior Brendol…”

“I was only a sophomore, actually. I got a senior to take me: a cheerleader. Brandy Evans… God, I was obsessed with her.”

“Well done, Hux.” Ben raised his eyebrows and nodded.

“Not quite. She’d just broken up with the Captain of the football team and she’d been inconsolable for weeks. I told her that if it would make her feel better, I would go with her instead of that jerk... There we were, dancing the last slow dance. I was planning on confessing my undying love, when she whispered in my ear, 

‘Oh, Hux. I don’t know what I’d do without a friend like you. You’re like my little brother.’”

“Oh shit! That is heavy!” Ben burst into laughter.

“Well, I got over it… Eventually.”

“So then that was your last prom?”

“Yes.”

“Too burned to try again?”

“Not exactly.”

“Too busy for sports AND prom? Your High School career was straight up tragic.”

“Yes.”

“You’re hiding something... I can always tell when people are hiding something.”

“How about you, Ben? Did you go to prom?”

“I’ll find out. One way or another, I always get the information that I want.”

“Fine.” Hux’s voice was no more than a whisper. There was no way he wanted anyone else finding this out. Maybe if he gave Ben the information directly he could better avoid its possible dispersal.

“I… I dropped out of High School. I got my GED and enlisted.”

“What? You??” 

“Nobody knows this except for President Snoke. I swear, if you tell anyone…” There was a hint of danger in his voice.

“Come on, I’m the last person who could judge you for dropping out of school. But if it makes you feel better, your secret is safe with me. I promise.”

“Thank you.” 

“But if you did tell them back at Starkiller, I only think it would make them admire you and how hard you worked to get where you are today. I think they would think that you are really, really impressive. Even more impressive than they already thought.” Ben’s expression was thoughtful, and his lips spread into a surprisingly gentle smile.

Hux was taken aback by this.

“…Thank you.” He finally said.

“What are you thanking me for? I didn’t do shit.” He said before taking a long swig of beer.

Hux held back a smile.

“So anyway, tell me about your prom.”

“Do you honestly think I went to prom?”

“I’m guessing not?”

“I wasn’t exactly the most popular kid, you might imagine.”

Hux smirked. Ben must have always been just as contrary. He’d probably changed very little since High School.

“Well, I suppose they’re all kicking themselves now for passing up a prom date with one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, huh?”

“Brendol, you’re making me blush!” Ben said sarcastically with a girlish giggle. “You’re not terrible yourself. Fuck Brandy Evans. Any woman would be lucky to have you.”

“Thanks, I guess… I mean, I’ve been with girls… But I’m not, I mean, I’ve been with men too…” he drifted off.

_“Why do you suck so much at talking, Hux? Why do you even bother opening your mouth?”_

“Oh okay. That’s cool.” Was Ben’s only response to his idiotic blustering. Hux silently thanked the higher powers that Ben was being even remotely cool about this. 

They stayed and talked for almost three hours before leaving the restaurant.

“You have surprisingly good taste, Ben. I quite enjoyed my meal.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Don’t I give off an air of sophisticated taste in all things?” He asked, pulling the cuffs of his hoody over his fingertips.

“Of course you do. You and the twenty empty take out containers in your office.”

“Hey, I can’t help that I’m busy. I would do stuff like this more often if I could.”

Hux’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out and looked at it and then put it away. They were nearing his place. 

“Would you like to?...” Hux began, stopping at the porch of his house.

“I don’t need to call an Uber, I’m fine with walking. I’m about three miles from here, but I like walking. It’s totally cool. Don’t worry about it.” Red blossomed on Ben’s cheeks.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to come in.” 

“No, it’s fine bye!” Ben blurted before turning and walking briskly away.

“Ben, wait.”

Ben turned on his heel and stared at Hux. His entire body was tense.

“I just got a text from the head of Marketing. It seems one of our interns quit. ”

“What?”

“Finn has dropped out of college and is moving to Tokyo.”

Ben paused. His rigid shoulders finally lowered and the red of his cheeks had faded slightly.

“Told you so.”

“Remember when you said you’d bet money on it?”

“God, I didn’t mean it. You don’t have to actually…”

“Then let’s go to dinner again. This time I’ll pay.”

The color almost immediately returned in Ben’s cheeks.

“What?” His dark eyes widened.

It was Hux’s turn to blush. He looked away.

“I mean, if you wanted to get dinner again. If you did, I could pay for it. But only if you wanted to.”

_“You’re such a fool, Hux. This boy is as straight as a fucking ruler. Look at him, he’s terrified right now.”_

“Look, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it, Ben.”

“I would.” Ben said, taking a step towards Hux. 

Hux did not expect that. He also did not expect Ben to take another step closer. The toes of their shoes were touching.

“You’re fun to be around, Brendol. I like you.” He flashed a nervous crooked smile that made Hux feel like he was falling into some deep ocean.

“You’re staring again.” Ben leaned his head slightly to the side and moved in even closer.

“I know.” Hux placed his hands on Ben’s shoulders, leaning his head in the other direction. He closed his eyes. 

He felt Ben’s shoulders tense and opened his eyes to see the other man gaping back at him, blushing nervously. 

“Goodnight.” He said, and reached up to pat Hux on the head before sprinting off into the night at full speed.

Hux went inside, where Millicent greeted him by weaving in and out from between his legs purring. He had not made the same mistake from the night before and left plenty of food for her in advance. He scooped her up into his arms.

“Well Millie,” he said with a sigh.

“I’m an idiot.”


	7. CH 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damage control from both sides. Also, a look into things from Ben's perspective and a guest appearance from REY!!

For the first time in a while, Hux had trouble falling asleep. He replayed the bizarre and disastrous end to the evening over and over again in his mind.

“I’m an idiot.” He muttered, cursing himself for being so forward before turning his pillow over and tossing violently to the other side of his mattress.

Hux could not erase from his mind the look Ben had given him when Hux tried to…

_“Dammit, Hux! What were you even thinking? Trying to kiss Ben? You completely misjudged the situation. This is why you’re single... You’re a fucking socially-awkward menace to the dating world.”_

He gasped out loud when he heard his phone vibrate. His heart almost stopped when he saw it was from Ben.

“so????”

He cringed. Was Ben really trying to bring up Hux’s humiliating lack of judgment already? Why couldn’t he just leave this alone?

“SOOOOOOOOOOOOO??????????????????????????” This one didn’t even fit into a single line.

_“Fuck it all!”_

Hux snatched his phone off of the nightstand.

“what.”

He immediately placed the phone back on his nightstand screen down and turned away from it.  
After a moment it vibrated again. With immense dread, Hux slowly turned the phone over.

“so you never actually told me when we were getting dinner again”

What? 

“I don’t know yet.”

It wasn’t a lie. He had completely crossed out the idea of them ever meeting up outside of work again. He hadn’t given the offer a second thought.

“Jesus, Hux I am way better at planning dates than you”

Hux dropped the phone as if it was a burning coal.

“Dates? As in that was a date?”

Hux did not know how to respond.

_“Date…”_

“well I’m gone the rest of the week so maybe this Saturday?” Ben finally texted.

“Sure.”

_“A date. Next week. It’s a date. Tonight. Tonight was also a date. Coffee. Was that a date as well then?”_

“Well?”

“well what”

“What time? Where are you taking me? Do I have to plan out everything for you? I thought you were Mr. Organized.”

“secret.”

Hopefully this would buy him some time.

“ok I see what you did there”

“Good night Ben.”

“night”

Hux slumped back against the mattress as a wave of relieved exhaustion hit him. Millicent hopped onto his chest and demanded to know why he was still awake. 

“Millicent…” He whispered as he drifted into sleep.

“What’s… happening… to……”

“me?.....”

…………………….

“You did WHAT?”

“I don’t know, Rey! I panicked, alright?” Ben yelled towards his open laptop. He was laying flat on the polished hardwood floor of his loft, his hand rummaging inside a large bag of M&Ms.

“Jesus, Ben! You were supposed to kiss him, not pat him on the head like a fucking Golden Retriever and run off like a crazy person!” 

“I already know exactly what I did I do NOT need you reciting it back to me, okay?” 

“Bruh, you fucked up big time.” A male voice said from the Skype line.

“Gee thanks, Tyler. You sure are in an encouraging mood tonight.”

“Sorry, there’s just no other way to put it. This is why I stopped trying to set you up with people.”

“You two are spiraling.” It was Rey again. “The main thing is, this night was not a total loss.”

“How so?” Ben asked with a mouthful of M&Ms.

“He clearly likes you.” She responded.

“No he doesn’t, he’s always hated me. He thinks I’m some scatterbrained child.”

Ben had thought perhaps that was no longer true, but this night had probably done nothing to change Hux’s mind.

“Dude,” It was Tyler again. “Hate and love aren’t opposites. They’re merely two sides of the same coin.”

Ben was thoughtfully silent. This was pretty insightful stuff, coming from Tyler.

“It’s like, girls think I’m a total weirdo and they don’t want to date me, but they also really want my dick because they’ve got a thing for bad boys. Two sides, same coin.”

There it was. That was more like the Tyler he knew.

“So Brendol wants to fuck me… Because I’m a bad boy? But he also thinks I’m a weirdo?”

“You’re completely missing the point!” Tyler sounded exasperated.

“Tyler, stop being an idiot.” It was Rey.

“What I was trying to say is, this night wasn’t a total loss. He invited you to get dinner again, and he was clearly alright with the idea of kissing you. On the downside, he’s probably pretty fucking confused about the whole thing, and might think you don’t like him.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Ben said. “I told him that I liked him.”

“Right before you pussed out and ran away!”

“Shut the fuck up, Tyler.”

“WHAT. I. WAS. SAYING.”

Ben and Tyler both fell silent.

“…is that if you’re gonna fix this up, you’d best do it now while you still have the chance.”

“He’s probably asleep, I can’t call him now.”

“Doesn’t matter. Text him. Something.”

“Fine.”

“And if you manage to fix this…” Rey began.

Ben walked to the kitchen counter to retrieve his phone.

“Then he must really fucking like you, Ben.”

“Whatever… I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“You can tell us all about your damage control then!”

“Fuck off, Rey.”

“Love you too, Ben.”

Rey and Tyler logged off. Ben sat down cross-legged back on the floor, phone in hand.

………………

Hux woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. Perhaps a little uneasy, but incredibly energetic. He finished his morning run in record time, and even Millicent seemed to notice his almost manic energy.

“I’m fine, Millie girl. Just feeling a bit strange today.” 

He said, putting down her food bowl. He returned to the countertop and began whisking some eggs for his own breakfast.

When his alarm clock had gone off, he wondered if the entire night had been a strange dream. But when he picked up his phone and looked through all the messages, he knew it was all very real. 

_“We’re going on a date this Friday.”_

So Ben really did want him then. Or was he using the word date sarcastically? Hux wasn’t sure which option made him more anxious. He decided that his best choice would just be to wait this out and see what happened. 

It was late that morning at work when Hux received several beautifully filtered pictures of high-end nouveau cuisine (entirely vegan of course) from Ben’s number. There was no doubt that they looked amazing, but Hux was incredibly confused.

“?”

“???”

“why did you just send me 5 pictures of your lunch?” 

“Why not? People do that.”

“yes. Teenage girls on Instagram.”

“Well I also knew that your lunch break isn’t for 1 hr and all you have is a lame ass sandwich”

Hux’s stomach growled. He chose not to dignify Ben’s latest text with a response.

_“What the hell is his problem?”_

Hux could not get a read on the man. Right when he thought he’d completely figured Ben out, Ben would go completely left field. The man was an enigma.

Hux did not look at his phone again until that afternoon. He was almost disappointed when he saw that Ben hadn’t texted him back yet. Would it be odd to text him back now?

_“Christ, you’re a full grown man. You can text whomever you please.”_

“are you enjoying California?”

There. Hux felt better. He put his tea on the desk next to his laptop and took off his coat.

“hell no.”

Leave it to Ben Solo to have a miserable time, even in San Francisco. He opened up his laptop and began typing. His brow furrowed as he scanned the screen. The phone vibrated again.

“Everyone is terrible here.”

“How sad. I thought you were such a people person”

“I never said I liked them. I just can more accurately gauge how awful they are.”

“Good Lord!” Hux exclaimed out loud to himself. “Was that the only vegan restaurant in the entire damn city?” He sighed deeply before picking up his phone.

“sorry to hear that.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but even you are more fun to be around than these self-absorbed sacks of shit.”

"Thanks."

"It's true. It's almost like I could enjoy hanging out with you now."

"I am hurt by your insinuations."

_“What the hell kind of a restaurant is closed on Friday night?! This search is going nowhere!”_

"Come on, it's not like you're terrible."

"How kind."

"I did have a decent time with you."

Hux closed his laptop. This was a futile search. At this rate, he would be better off just....

_"Oh..."_

"after spending three straight days in this hellhole of a city im actually looking forward to friday"

What this just Ben's completely backwards way of saying he was excited for their date? 

"How sweet of you I'm looking forward to it as well."

"Any plans yet?"

"Meet me at my place once you fly back in I’ll get you the address later."

"close by to your place then?"

Hux smiled to himself.

"Yes."

"I've got to go soon, doing some stupid talk or something."

This “Stupid Talk” was of course the unveiling of Starkiller’s plans for the entire year before an audience the elite of the technology industry.

"Good luck then and do try to enjoy yourself"

"Don't tell me what to do"

"Not my intention."

"I'm seeing some friends tonight, satisfied?"

"Satisfied?" 

How was Ben managing to turn pleasant small talk into some kind of argument?

"have fun"

"Fine."

Hux laughed quietly as he put his phone down and returned to his work. He picked up his tea and took a tentative sip. He furrowed his brow at the bitter taste and contemplated before taking another sip. It wasn't half bad.

_"He was right; you really can taste the Bergamot this way."_


	8. CH 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright kiddos, there is some serious smut here. You've been warned.

The doorbell rang at 6:09pm. 

_“Shit!”_ Hux rushed out of the kitchen to turn off the record player in his living room with frantic speed.

_“He wasn’t supposed to be here until 6:30!”_

He regarded himself briefly in the mirror as he raced to the front door, smoothing his hair one more time before opening it.

Ben stood aimlessly on the porch. His hair was down again, but not as messy as usual. He wore his uniform black t-shirt and jeans, and there was a small black duffel back slung across his shoulder.

“Was that… Chaka Khan?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Hux responded straight-faced and solemn.

“Where should I put this?” he asked referring to the bag.

“Set it by the door.”

“You look different. “

Hux was going to ask Ben what the hell he was talking about, but then he realized that to a work colleague he probably did look different. He was wearing jeans and a button down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows; a much more casual look than Ben would be used to seeing him in.

“I don’t wear a suit all the time… Are you coming in or what?”

“Aren’t we leaving?”

“You’re almost 30 minutes early.”

“I can’t help that my flight came in ridiculously, stupidly early. And light blue looks good on you. Goes with your hair.”

“…. Thanks.” He meant for it to sound more off-handed. He left Ben in the living room and walked into the kitchen.

“Okay, so I was wrong. It was Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. Let’s see what else you’ve got in here…”  
“DO NOT.” Hux ordered, striding back into the living room. He was going to finish with “touch my records” in an intimidating tone but the sight that greeted Hux left him at a loss for words.

Ben was sitting on the floor with his legs stretched out in front of him like a preschooler, holding one of Hux’s records looking up at him. Millicent was leisurely draped over his shoulders like a Victorian mink stole purring with an ecstatic look on her face. Hux glared at her.

_“Traitor…”_

Millicent stared back and meowed innocently.

“Just… Just let me put that back and come wait in the kitchen like an adult.”

“I can do it myself.”

“Fine. Follow me… And don’t touch anything else.” Hux said as he went back into the kitchen.

“Holy fuck, it smells like heaven. What were you making in here?” Ben asked, plopping down on a bar stool with Millicent in his lap.

“Dinner.” Hux responded, scraping the pan and adding some more wine to it.

“Oh my God… Are you… Are you making me dinner?” Ben bust out into laughter. “Is that the surprise?”

Hux turned away and began chopping some basil with silent precision.

“Aww, Brendol! I feel so special! You don’t do this for just anyone, I bet!”

“Do you know how hard it is to find a vegan restaurant in this city?” Hux clipped back.

“Jesus, Brendol. It didn’t have to be a vegan restaurant. Everywhere has salads.”

“I wasn’t about to try and deal with you sitting across from me with a measly salad while I ate whatever I pleased. I would have never heard the end of it.”

“Wow. That’s actually really nice.”

“Whatever…” He muttered as he scraped the herbs from the cutting board into the pan.

“No, really. Thanks.”

“It’s just easier this way. Here, take this.” Hux pushed a glass of white wine towards him.

“So what are you making?”

“Chicken Cacciatore.”

“Chicken? I think you might’ve missed the point.”

“I’m making two kinds, you idiot. One with chicken and one for you.”

“Nice. Sounds good.”

“Well since you showed up early, you’ll have to wait a while.” Hux responded, pouring himself a glass of wine and leaning on the other side of the bar. He took a long drink.

“I think your little fur baby’s in love, Brendol.”

Millicent was standing on her hind legs, her front ones resting on both of Ben’s shoulders and licking his face. Ben scratched her behind her ears.

“Get down from there, Millicent! You know the rules!”

She leapt from the bar stool and shot a vengeful glare at Hux.

_“Shame on you, Millicent Hux! Misbehaving around company like a child showing off to their friends? What do you see in him anyway, huh?”_

“Don’t worry Millicent, Brendol can try to keep us apart but he’ll never understand the strength of our love.” 

“Don’t encourage her.” Hux said, scowling at them both.

“Is there anything I can do to help or something?”

“No. And even if there was, you’ll have to kill me before I let you in here.”

“Okay, fine. But at least come sit down then. It’s freaking me out, you just standing back there… Glaring.”

“Fine.” Hux picked up his glass and walked to the other side of the bar and sat down next to Ben. 

“Better?” He stared into Ben’s eyes; their faces less than an inch apart.

Ben stared back in silence for an uncomfortable moment. 

“Yes.”

Hux quickly turned forward. They drank their wine in silence. 

“You’re quite the conversationalist tonight, Ben.” Hux said, finally getting up to feed Millicent.

“Don’t act like you’re any better.”

“What are you so quiet about, anyway?”

“Thinking.”

“About what?” he said, returning to the stool.

“Well, I mean, Rufus and Chaka Khan are nice and all but I’m in the mood for something different tonight. There’s this one song stuck in my head… Wait… You wouldn’t happen to have it. It’s by this one band… I think they’re called the Bad Bangin’ Daddies?”

“Go to hell.” Hux said, silently trying to banish the color from his cheeks.

“You know I’m just messing with you Brendol.” 

Hux did not respond.

“Solar Energy.” Ben said.

“What?” Hux turned, completely baffled by this statement.

“That’s what I’m thinking about right now.”

“That’s nice.”

“Like, what if we made solar powered chargers. For Starkiller? That would be pretty cool, right?”

“And how exactly would…”

“The company we use to make our chargers would get a decent tax break for going in with alternate energy, not to mention the one Starkiller would get. Think about it, Hux. This could be huge for expanding Starkiller’s reach. If someone was out in the wilderness, they wouldn’t have to worry about finding an electrical outlet. Developing countries where there’s not as much access to electricity could use our products. Soldiers out in the field… This could be big.”

Hux was speechless. Ben had that fire in his eyes that he got whenever he’d really latched on to something, but Hux saw something else as well. Passion. Passion and conviction. Was that always there as well?

“You certainly have given some thought to this idea.”

“I actually just pretended I was in one of our meetings and I thought about all the things you usually say when I bring in ideas. So thanks for that.”

“Well, if you keep doing that for all your outrageous schemes, maybe my job will be a little easier.”

“Hey. Brendol.” Ben was looking directly at him.

“Yes?” The nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach returned. His normally organized brain felt jumbled.

“I think something’s burning.”

_“Oh, fuck!”_

Hux turned off the stove and put both pans to the back of the burner. He had caught it just in time. 

“Saved it.” He said, breathless.

“Good, because I’m starving.”

Ben’s eyes were the size of tea saucers when he put the fork in his mouth.

“Woah, this is seriously good.”

“Thank you.” 

“You are quite a cook. I feel lucky.”

“How so?”

“Not a lot of people get to see your inner sanctum, and I’m certain you don’t cook for just anyone.”

“You don’t know that, I have people over.”

“Practically never, I’m guessing. Your place is immaculate. This level of cleanliness and decorating detail here is only sustainable for one person. 

“What does that mean?”

“People come in and mess your shit up. It’s what they do.”

“Maybe you do.”

“No, trust me.” He took another bite and turned in his seat at the table. He gestured towards the living room.

“Nobody. And I mean _nobody_ folds a throw blanket like that who has other people in their house all the time. Anyone else who used that blanket would just throw it back on the couch without bothering to fold it up again. After a while, you’d just leave it like that. You’d tell yourself it was meant to look effortless, but really you’d just be sick of constantly folding it back up and you would’ve stopped caring anyways. Or you’d at least just decide to fold like a normal person.”

“That throw blanket is decorative.” Hux said between bites. “It’s not meant to be used.”

Ben laughed and Hux felt weak. 

“Case and point.” He said, smirking.

“You’re wrong. I have definitely invited people over.”

“I’m guessing they weren’t here long enough to see your living room. Or any other part of the house besides your bedroom.”

They ate in silence as Hux fumed.

“Aww, Brendol. Don’t be mad at me just because I’m right. I’m always right. You should just accept it.”

“You.” Hux pointed his fork at Ben accusingly. “Are the worst dinner guest ever.”

“Then throw me out. It would be a pity though; I’ve been having a lot of fun.”

“You think you’re the only one who can read people?”

“I never said that. Only that I’m the best at it.”

“Well, I’m rather good at reading people myself.”

Ben pushed his empty plate away and leaned forward on his elbows.

“I’m listening.”

“What?”

“You heard me, tell me all about it. I’m intrigued.”

This threw Hux off guard. He just meant to shut Ben up. Not to egg him on more.

“Well…”

“Well?”

“Well, there’s someone at work I’ve been studying lately.”

“Friend of yours?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Do tell.”

“The moment I first set eyes on them, I knew they were complete chaos. The kind of person whose plague-like personality just infects an entire crowd and can expand across an entire room. I thought it would drive me crazy.”

“And did it?”

“No. I was left to suffer in my total sanity as the world around me went utterly mad. It didn’t take long for me to find out that not only were they charismatic, but they were reckless as well. They had this intolerable aura of self-assuredness and arrogance. They seemed like a complete egomaniac.”

“Hmmm.” Ben responded with a stony poker face. “Please go on.”

“But if someone accepted that finding without any further research, they would be…”

Ben’s poker face broke, making Hux’s breath hitch.

“… a… a person-reading novice.”

_“God, that sounded lame.”_

“Upon further investigation, perhaps what I was picking up on was that this person cared. Terribly so. Perhaps what I first saw as foolhardy arrogance was actually confidence and conviction. Perhaps they believed so much in what they were doing and were so passionate about it that their very soul would shrivel up and die if they didn’t follow that calling.”

Ben looked away. His expression was uncomfortable.

“They’re still reckless and brash and uncouth. That is certain. And I am nothing like them. But perhaps, I admire them for their differences. I may even find myself… attracted… to those differences.”

He paused.

“I want to learn more about this person.”

Ben stood up from the table. Hux lowered his head.

_“Congratulations, Hux. You completely blew it. You could have just kept this casual but instead you had to run your stupid mouth.”_

He walked towards Hux until he was standing over him. Ben put one finger under Hux’s chin making him tense at the unexpected contact. Ben used the finger to direct Hux’s gaze up. He looked down at Hux and cocked his head to the side. There was an almost imperceptible smile on his strange yet alluring face. Hux stared up at him.

_“What is happening right now?”_

Hux cursed himself silently for the fact that he was beginning to tremble.

“Do you wanna screw now?” Ben whispered.

“Hell yes.” Hux whispered back before shooting up from his chair and claiming Ben’s mouth roughly with his. Ben nearly fell over from the force, but then regained his balance and kissed back. Ben pulled away and stared at Hux, flushed and breathless. Hux pulled him back into a tight embrace. Ben was at most an inch or two taller than him. They were practically the same height. Hux leaned down to bury his head into Ben’s neck. He breathed in. Ben had a generically clean scent to him, but it was intoxicating.

“Are you going to run off, now?” Hux murmured, smirking.

“I’m not going anywhere… And fuck you.” Ben responded back in a harsh whisper and then gasped when Hux bit his neck playfully. He could feel Ben’s half-hard length pressed up against him. Hux pushed him away. 

“Follow me.” He said, going to the bedroom. Right when the door closed, Ben began peeling off his clothing until he stood there in nothing but a pair of gray boxer briefs. Hux looked him up and down hungrily. There was something endearing and undeniably sexy about his lean, lanky form, and Hux could see that he was extremely hard. Ben noticed Hux’s gaze. He got on the bed, pulled the covers back, got in and pulled them back, up over his chest. Hux did not dwell on this bizarre action, and as he walked over towards the bed, he unbuttoned his shirt, rolling it off of his shoulders. Ben’s eyes grew wide with an anxious arousal. Hux smirked, undoing his belt.

“You’re staring, Ben.”

Ben did not respond and continued to gape at Hux

“Do you like what you see?” He asked, pulling off the rest of his clothing and crawling on top of the other man.

Poor Ben looked at Hux like his brain was about to shatter into tiny pieces.

“My my, Ben. You look like you’ve never seen a naked man before.” He said, laughing.

At this, Ben tensed up and backed away from Hux. He was blushing furiously.

“What? Are you alright?” 

Ben’s eyes darted around the room nervously.

“No. I’m… it’s fine.” He stuttered.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never been with another man before.”

Ben did not have to respond for Hux to know the answer. He sat up beside Ben and pinched the bridge of his nose.

_“Shit. I was not prepared for this.”_

Hux sighed. “It’s… it’s alright. You can top if it makes you feel better.”

“It’s not that… That I’ve never been with another, I mean … I’m not interested in women, like at all.. I mean, what I’m trying to...” 

Ben looked like he might cry.

_“Oh fuck…”_

“Oh my God, Ben. Are you a virgin?” he blurted out the words before he realized they were coming out of his mouth.

“Maybe.” Ben responded in a small voice.

_“Jesus fucking Christ! He’s a fucking virgin?! Shit shit SHIT!!!”_

“What are you, 25? How is that even possible?!” Hux grabbed the sides of his head. He felt nauseous.

“26… And who’s fucking counting? It wasn’t exactly a priority for me; I was busy with other stuff. I just never got around to… Who the fuck even cares?”

“Me! I care!”

“Why? Virginity’s just a societal construct anyway; it’s not even a real thing!”

“I don’t know, being someone’s first time is pretty fucking real to me!” He felt the panic rising inside him.

“Taking someone’s virginity is a very tall order.” He added.

“I’m a grown ass man, Brendol, not a delicate young maiden you’re deflowering.” 

“You’re right. I just didn’t think we would be having this conversation.”

Ben looked at Hux. His expression changed to a mischievous smile.

“Gosh, Brendol. You’re so tense.” 

“I know. I’m sorry, I just need a moment to…” Hux’s words trailed off into an undignified, wordless exclamation as Ben climbed on top of him and grabbed his cock. Any worries he had earlier were far from his mind now.

“Let me help with that.” Ben said, stroking slowly, without rhythm and with an almost maddening lack of pressure.

“Ben…” he gasped. “Harder…”

“Shhh…” he said, putting a finger up to Hux’s lips. 

“This may be my first time, but I know exactly what I’m doing.” He said smugly as he continued, not changing his stroking at all, even as Hux tried frantically to thrust into his hand.

“If he doesn’t grip any harder, I’m going to go completely insane!” Hux thought, desperately biting his tongue to keep himself from pleading.  
He let out a frustrated moan as Ben let go entirely. He squinted his eyes shut. What kind of sick game was this man playing with him? His thoughts melted and blurred together the moment he felt Ben’s mouth on his hard, needy member. It was tentative at first, but after a moment Ben seemed to find his rhythm and gain some confidence. A hungry, needy voice began slurring out encouragement jumbled with aroused exclamations, and Hux realized with a small amount of shame that it was his own voice. He opened his eyes and shuddered at the extremely erotic sight of Ben pleasuring him with his mouth.

“Your mouth is amazing.” Hux whimpered in a feverish voice.

“Don’t worry, Brendol. I’m not like your hookups. I’ll take good care of you. I’ll give you what you need.” He said before swiping his tongue slowly across the inside of Hux’s thigh.

_“How the fuck does he even know about all that?”_

Hux propped himself up on his elbow. “How about you let me try now?”

“Oh really?”

“You could say you’ve inspired me with your benevolence.” He said gripping Ben by the shoulders and lowering him onto the bed. His hand went down between his own legs as he looked at Ben splayed under him. His pale skin really was just as smooth as it was in his dreams. Hux wanted to put his mouth on every inch of it. He collected his racing thoughts as he reached back up to run his fingers through Ben’s hair. He’d expected it to be thick and course, but instead it was soft like silk.

“Fuck, you’re yummy.” He whispered, even surprising himself before burying his head in the other man’s neck, sucking gently. He pulled off Ben’s underwear with Ben’s help. He reached for his cock, grabbed it possessively and began stroking. Ben let out a throaty moan and his eyes fluttered shut. Hux continued his ministrations and trailed his mouth down Ben’s heaving chest until he was face to face with a hard, throbbing cock. It was a normal size: not too big or small and incredibly well-formed. Hux gently grabbed Ben’s balls and using his other hand guided Ben’s length into his mouth.

Ben was shouting with pleasure and his body seemed to melt under Hux. After a moment, Ben was able to form words.

“Fuck me!” He moaned “Fuck me now!” 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes I’m fucking sure fuck me right fucking now Brendol!” His dark eyes were positively wild with lust.

Hux climbed over towards the edge of his bed and fumbled around in the nightstand drawer. He unwrapped and put on the condom with inhuman speed. Ben grabbed him and pushed him down onto the bed, straddling him. 

“Patience.” Hux whispered leaning up until they were both sitting upright from each other, their legs intertwined. Hux picked up a bottle of lube. Very slowly, he opened it and poured a generous amount onto his hand. Ben moaned and shuddered as Hux reached towards him and slathered it all over the other man’s cock instead of his own.

“Wait… why…? I thought…” He gasped.

“Doesn’t it feel good? Do you want me to stop?” He said with a wicked smile.

“No…” Ben moaned.

After a few more seconds, Hux let go of Ben. He poured more lube into his hand and pumped his own already stiffened member for a moment before reaching around and gripping the small of Ben’s back and pressing their bodies together. Ben wrapped his long arms and legs around Hux. He kissed Ben with gentle ferocity as he pushed slowly inside the other man.

“Fuck!” Ben hissed into Hux’s mouth.

“Tell me when you’re ready.” He whispered back.

“Just go slow.” Ben moaned, rubbing his slick cock against Hux’s stomach.

Hux pulled out almost completely and then thrust back in. The sound of his own moaning was so wild and pornographic that it sent chills up his spine.

“Fuck! You’re so tight!” He said, maintaining an excruciatingly slow speed for awhile. Then, he experimented with a deeper thrust.

Ben’s entirely body went rigid. Hux stopped and looked at him with concern.

“Why did you stop? Keep going!” Ben ordered.

“Did I hurt you?”

“I’ve never felt anything like that before!” He moaned. “Don’t stop!”

Hux kept thrusting and picked up speed, egged on by the beautiful noises coming from Ben’s mouth. He reached between them and grabbed Ben’s cock. He stroked the tip lightly with his thumb until Ben came onto Hux’s chest, thrusting frantically into his grasp. The way his entire body shuddered around Hux felt indescribably good. His eyes screwed shut and he began thrusting into the other man even faster. He heard quiet laughter and opened his eyes. From underneath him, Ben was laying there panting and laughing breathlessly. He let go of Hux with one hand and swiped the dark, messy hair from his glimmering eyes.

“You like that, Brendol?”

Hux came immediately with a shout, before collapsing onto the bed next to Ben. 

“That was…” Ben began. “That was amazing.”

Hux stood up.

“Where are you going?”

“Bathroom.” 

Hux sighed at the sensation of the hot water coursing down his shoulders. 

_“What the fuck just happened?”_

Ben had been decently good. But as far as his previous sexual encounters had gone, there had been better ones.

_“But he certainly wasn’t bad for a virgin...”_

It was not mind-blowingly good, so-good-you-forget-your-own-name sex, but Hux had never felt so… emotionally raw. What was it about this night that was so intimate and charged? It had been a long time since he’d been with anyone so attentive to his needs, and it had been even longer since he’d been so attentive to the other person’s as well. 

_“I… I even let him…”_ He prickled slightly at the memory. He had never let anyone come on him before. But in the moment he hadn’t minded at all. Even now he still didn’t mind.

The sound of the bathroom door opening snapped Hux from his thoughts. It was Ben. He was still completely naked. He tapped on the glass door of the shower.

“Hey. Can I come in?”

“Sure.” 

It had been a long time since Hux had let anyone do this, either. Ben stepped inside, directly under the shower head, blocking Hux from the warm water. He closed his eyes as he ran his long fingers through his dark hair. Then he stopped and opened his eyes.

“What is it?” Hux asked, shifting slightly under the other man’s piercing gaze. 

Ben reached both of his arms out to Hux and drew him in to his chest.

“What the hell are you doing?” Hux demanded irritably pulling himself away.

“You’re shivering. This way we can both stay warm.”

Hux blushed. He softened and leaned in towards Ben. 

_“Why does this feel so good?”_

He was almost disappointed when Ben let go of him and walked out of the shower, grabbing a towel from the rack.

Quickly, he finished rinsing off. Ben was already dried off and dressed by the time Hux walked into the bedroom. They both froze.

“It’s getting late…” Ben said.

“Of course. I’ll see you out.” Hux responded, putting on a pair of boxers and an undershirt.

“I’ll… see you later.” Hux said as Ben went to the front door and picked up his bag.

“Brendol… I don’t…”

_“Oh God… What is he going to say?”_

“I can’t wait until Monday before I see you again. Can we do lunch tomorrow?”

“Noon?” 

“Sure. I’ll text you the address tomorrow.”

“Okay… Ben?”

“Yes.” 

Hux walked over to Ben and kissed him deeply.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Brendol.”

Ben left. Hux went into the living room and sat down on the couch next to a sleeping Millicent.

“Its times like these,” He said aloud to himself.

“That I wish I’d never quit smoking.”


	9. CH 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day. There is almost an incident, and then a whole lot of fluff.

Hux woke up that morning to the sensation of Millicent’s sandpapery tongue on his face.

“What are you doing? Let me go back to sleep.” He mumbled, rolling back over. 

She meowed insistently back at him. 

“Stop that, my alarm hasn’t even…” He winced as light flooded his eyes.

 _“Shit.”_ He grabbed his phone off of the nightstand. It was almost 11:30am.

Hux shot out of bed. He’d never slept through his alarm like that before.

_“Oh no. I’m supposed to meet Ben!”_

He rushed around his room and got ready, and as he was putting on his shoes, stumbled out into the kitchen to feed Millicent.

“Sorry breakfast is so late, Millie baby.” She paid no attention to Hux’s apology as she scarfed down her food.

He looked up the address Ben had sent him. Thankfully, the restaurant was halfway between their homes. If he ran fast enough, he could make it in a reasonable time.

“going to be late.” He texted before tearing down the street. He wasn’t used to running in his heavy coat and scarf, without his running shoes on, but he wasn’t about to show up on a date in his running gear.

 _“Last night...”_ He had been in such a hurry he hadn’t even gotten time to think about what happened last night. It was almost unreal to him. Images of their night together assaulted his mind. But the sex wasn’t what stuck there. It was other moments. Like when he bared his private feelings to Ben… When he kissed him at the door…

_“The way he held you…”_

Hux almost tripped at the thought. He felt dizzy. It was probably just the lack of breakfast. He stopped for a quick breath. It was 11:59 and he still had half a mile left. He continued racing down the street but at a steadier pace now. It was 12:15 when he finally arrived. The restaurant was a tiny, hole-in-the-wall pizza place. Ben was standing outside, looking at his phone.

“Hey there.” 

Ben looked up from his phone and gave Hux a half smile.

“Hey.” He walked over to Hux and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

Hux eyes darted around nervously.

“It’s alright, Brendol.” He said, laughing. “Let’s go in.”

They had just ordered when Ben leaned in towards Hux and brushed one finger across his jaw line.

“What was that for?” He asked, embarrassed.

“You’re scruffy today.”

He realized that he’d forgotten to shave in his hurry.

“I was running a little late this morning.” 

“I don’t mind; it looks good on you.”

Hux blushed at the unexpected compliment.

“You’re blushing.”

“Shut up.”

“Hey! You’re that guy!”

Hux and Ben both looked around to see a stranger stopped at their table, gaping. 

“You’re that guy! The Starkiller guy!”

Ben looked uncomfortable and seemed to shrink back into his seat at the booth.

“Yeah.”

That was when Hux remembered that although to him Ben was only a pesky coworker, he was in fact somewhat of a celebrity, being the face of Starkiller and whatnot.

“You were on TV the other day.”

“Yeah.”

“Got the new phone last month. The Kyber 9, right?”

“The 7. We only have a 7.” Ben looked over to Hux with exasperation.

“Yeah. That one. Total piece of shit.”

The expression on Ben’s face told Hux that if this man didn’t shut up and walk away he might be in serious danger.

“It’s pretty much just an expensive brick. It’s like, I’ll try to get on the internet sometimes, and it’ll say that I don’t have Wi-Fi or some bullshit and that I have to use data. Total scam.”

“It sounds to me like you just have no idea how to use technology.” Ben said in a clipped tone. Hux stomach dropped. This was the same voice Ben always used right before he blew up. 

The man whipped out his phone and began typing away.

“That’s a real shame, because I’m about to tell everyone on Facebook all about what a colossal douchebag Ben Solo was to me today.”

In one swift motion, Ben stood up and snatched the phone out of the man’s hands.

“Ben…” Hux said with a warning tone.

_“Is there about to be an incident here?”_

“The real shame,” he began with a dangerously calm tone as he began deleting whatever the man had been writing. Ben towered over him.

“Ben…” Hux’s voice was no more than a harsh whisper.

“Is going to be when everyone here sees me crush your windpipe with my bare hands.” 

The man was sweating; his face twisted into a terrified grimace. Taking his sweet time, Ben pressed a few more buttons on the phone and leaned in towards the man.

“Smile.” He whispered before taking a selfie of the both of them.

“Here,” he said handing the phone back. “Post this instead. It should get you a couple of likes.”

“Th…Thank you?” The man stammered. 

“And go get your WiFi checked. That’s probably the real issue here.”

He rushed out of the restaurant. Hux wasn’t certain, but he was at least 80% sure that the man had pissed himself.

“Dick…” Ben mumbled before taking a bite of pizza.

“Jesus, Ben. Are you trying to get arrested?”

“You saw that; he was trying to start shit.”

“You…” Hux’s heart was still racing. “You can’t just do that!”

“Look, Brendol. I see idiots like him every fucking day. I know exactly what’s in their minds, and it is all… stupid.”

“I won’t lie to you, he had it coming.” Hux said, laughing in spite of himself.

“But you should be more careful.” He added in, with a straight face.

“Aww, you were worried about me.”

“I could care less, but I am not about to visit you in prison.”

“That would be tragic. I guess I can’t go now. Oh well, there were so many people I wanted to murder…”

“Shut up.”

“Whatever.”

“So. How are you?” Hux asked.

“I’m fine… Jeez, Brendol. Have you really run out of things to…” He trailed off, realizing what Hux meant.

“Yeah. Like I said, I’m fine. I… had a good time last night. I’m glad we decided to meet up again.”

“Me too.”

“This place has a quick turnover rate. If we stay here too long they’ll get all pissy. We should get out of here.”

“Oh. Okay.” 

“We could… Walk around or something?” Ben suggested.

“I’d like that.” Hux said, getting his coat on. 

A bitter wind hit Hux the moment he opened the door. The warm spell from the past two weeks was a mere memory now. It was bitterly cold, the chill even seeping in through his thick coat. He looked over at Ben who only had a hoody, his hat and a scarf. He had to be freezing. The sky was churning with black clouds. Ben started to look blue. The streets were growing more and more deserted by the second. That was when Hux saw the first snow flake fall. 

“Do you want to go inside somewhere?”

“No, I’m fine. Lets just keep walking.”

“You are not fine. You look like you’re about to freeze to death.”

Ben huffed a sigh, fogging the chilly air with his breath.

“My place is only about two blocks from here. We can go there.”

Hux was going to suggest a coffee shop or something similar, but this worked too.

The snowfall grew heavier. The flakes looked soft and downy like white feathers. Hux shoved his gloved hands in his pockets, trying to rewarm his numb fingers. Then, he became aware of a quaint clattering noise coming from next to him. 

“Oh, for the love of… Get over here.” Hux muttered, unbuttoning his large coat.

“What?” Ben glared over at him. His lips were purple.

Hux grabbed Ben’s arm and shoved him inside the wool coat next to him.

“What the hell?” He exclaimed, trying to get away. Hux pulled him in tighter.

“For God’s sake, Ben I can hear your teeth chattering. You’re lucky that there’s no one else out here right now.” He said, referring to the intimate gesture.

“Thanks.” He said, slipping an arm around Hux from under the coat.

The city was silent, except for the crisp atmospheric sound of the snow falling. It was just starting to stick, dusting everything with white. It was nice. Beautiful, even, if Hux was honest with himself. He realized that he could feel Ben’s heartbeat next to him. The intimacy of this was terrifying. But not terrifying enough to make him want it to stop.

“Mr. Solo?... Mr. Hux?!” 

_“Oh shit. It’s Jenkins!”_

She was bundled up in a large puffy coat, clutching a large bag of groceries, and staring at them both with a dropped jaw and wide eyes.

“Hello. Good to see you.” Hux said casually, Ben still inside the coat next to him. 

_“Just act normal. You’re not doing anything wrong.”_

“Maureen.” Ben added, nodding in greeting.

“Just… Getting some groceries before this thing hits!” she said, almost apologetically.

“Really came out of nowhere, didn’t it?” Hux responded as though all of this was completely normal.

“Yeah… Well, I’d better get home!” she said, rushing down the street awkwardly.

“That must have been odd for her.” Ben said after they turned the corner.

“You think?” 

“She’s probably in shock.” 

Hux wondered what it must have been like to see the two people at Starkiller who despised each other most of all, walking through the snow with a single coat draped over both of their shoulders like two high schoolers on a date. Shocking, indeed. He laughed at the thought.

“What the hell’s your problem?”

“We make quite the picture don’t we?”

“I guess so. It’s just down this street here.” 

Hux realized that with along with a considerable amount of celebrity status, Ben had a considerable amount of money as well, if the neighborhood they were walking through was any indicator. The buildings were sleek and very modern-looking. 

_“Nicely done, Ben. A little garish, but I’m impressed.”_

“This one, right here.” Ben said, grabbing a key card out of his pocket and tapping it at the door of a tall high-rise. The drastic change in temperature stung Hux’s face. He took off his gloves in the elevator and began rubbing his icy fingers back to life. They got off on the top floor.

 _“Wow, this is quite a place.”_

They were in the top floor penthouse. Ben flicked on the lights on. It was extremely spacious with minimal furnishing. The only light came from multiple lamps and string lights, like in his office. He looked up and saw that the ceiling lights had been pulled out here as well.

“What is it with you and ripping out light fixtures?”

“Central lighting…” He managed to say through the chattering. “…is the devil. It stifles creativity and gives you brain damage.”

“That is not true.”

“Yeah, it is.” He said, curling up on the couch and still shaking. Hux sat down next to him.

“Take off your shirt.” 

“What? Hell no. I’m kind of busy freezing my ass off over here so I’m not really in the mood.”

Hux rolled his eyes. 

“Just trust me.”

Ben eyed him wearily as he pulled off his sweater and shirt.

“Now lie down.” He said this as an order, but it was gentle.

Ben looked at Hux as if he was crazy, but complied anyway. Hux then got down behind him and pulled the other man into his arms, rubbing his hands all over Ben’s cold body at a vigorous speed.

“What the fuck?”

“This is what you’re supposed to do. Staves off hypothermia.” He said pulling his coat over them and going back to rubbing the life back into Ben’s skin.

“What?”

“Just be quiet.”

He continued until he felt the warmth return to Ben’s body.

“Better?”

“Actually, yes.” Ben responded, sidling up next to Hux.

“Thanks.” He added after a pause.

They stayed like this for awhile. The Hux felt a wash of the same strange emotion he had right before he’d put his own coat over Ben’s sleeping body, and earlier when he’d stuck Ben right next to him for warmth. It made him feel powerless, yet strangely warm inside, as if the angles and edges of his soul had softened. 

“This is cozy...” Ben mumbled, half-asleep.

“Why did you do that anyway?” he asked.

“Do what?” Hux asked back.

“Put your coat over me… The other night at the office.”

“I don’t know.”

“Liar…”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You did it because you liked me.” Ben taunted

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“Don’t be afraid. Even then, I felt it too.”

Hux untangled is body from Ben’s and stood up, coat in hand.

“Leaving?”

“Where do you keep your blankets? This house is freezing.”

“There’s one right here.” Ben said, reaching over the top of the couch and grabbing a throw blanket off of it. He pulled it over himself.

“No. Come back. You’re too warm to go.” He called over to Hux, who was putting his coat and gloves back on.

“I should probably get home before I’m stuck…”

“Here…” 

In the short time since they’d arrived at Ben’s place, the snow had gone from flurries to a full-on blizzard. All he could make out the front window was white. It would be madness to go outside in such weather.

“What’s wrong?” Ben asked from the couch. “Are we snowed in?”

Hux went pale and reached into his coat pocket for his phone. His hand trembled as he searched for the contact. He paced as it rang.

“You can just crash here.” Ben suggested, with no response.

_“Please pick up. Please don’t be too late.”_

“Hello?”

 _“Oh, thank God.”_ It felt like an invisible hand had been gripping Hux’s heart and suddenly let go. 

“Hello, this is Brendol Hux from next door.”

“Well, it seems I’ve been snowed in away from home… Yes… It would seem so… You wouldn’t mind terribly sending Rachel over to feed Millicent before this evening?”

“Yes… Of course… Yes… Thank you… Thank you very much, Mrs. Jackson. You as well.”

Hux slumped on the couch, relieved.

“What was that?”

“Making arrangements for Millicent. There’s a girl next door who has the key to my house. Feeds her on business trips and such.”

“You really care about that cat, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. She is my pet.” 

“She’s your pet?”

“Yes.”

“No. She’s your child.” Ben snickered.

“Idiot…”

Hux did not mention that he once despised animals. Or that the decision to get a cat in the first place was a therapist’s idea. Or the fact that on the night he brought Millicent home from the shelter he broke down because it was the first time since he was a boy that he’d let his guard down around another living thing and the only response he could come up with for that potent mix of emotion was to sob uncontrollably while she licked his face; that she was much more than a pet. She was a friend.

No. He did not mention these things to Ben.

“Don’t worry, Hux. She’ll be fine.” Ben said, pulling half of the blanket over him.

Maybe it was the sudden weather change, but Hux suddenly felt very tired. And it was so warm on the couch next to Ben....


	10. CH 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More blizzard time fluff/smut!! Also, Hux hates cuddling... Or at least that's what he tells himself.

“Well, it looks like we’ve got cereal…. And more cereal.” Ben called to Hux as he rummaged through the cabinets.

“Are you serious? How do you live like this?” 

“I’m not exactly the Iron Chef, Brendol. I usually just get something to go on the way home… If I don’t just get dinner at the office.”

Hux was slightly miffed at the thought that Ben worked more late nights than him.

“And look how well your lack of self-reliance has served you now. Even in a city like this, we are all still at the mercy of nature.”

“That’s nice, Brendol. Here’s your dinner.” Ben said shoving a bowl of cereal of indeterminate brand and almond milk towards Hux and sitting down next to him with a bowl of his own.

“At least we won’t starve to death.” He added with a smile before digging in.

Hux took a bite and nearly gagged on the overwhelming sweetness before choking it down. 

“Did you give me a bowl of stale marshmallows?!”

“Lucky Charms?” Ben looked at Hux like he was insane.

“What is that?”

“Were you raised under a fucking rock?”

“I don’t eat junk cereal. This stuff is awful for you.”

“This stuff…” Ben started, feigning deep offense.

“I was raised on ‘This Stuff’!”

“Doesn’t change the fact that it’s still terrible for you.” 

“Well, you’re still eating it, aren’t you? Look at you. You’re almost finished.”

“Hunger is a powerful force.”

“And junky cereal is even more powerful!” Ben exclaimed between bites.

“I wanted to say, thank you for letting me stay here.”

“No problem.” 

The two of them tried to stay preoccupied, but it was difficult. They were left with only each other for company and this turned very quickly to sex. It started when Ben and Hux had realized that the internet and cable were both completely down. Then, the lights flickered off. For a short second, they both sat on the couch in frozen silence. Then Ben leaned over and kissed Hux. It was deep and passionate, and Ben’s tongue tasted like marshmallow cereal. They made out there on the couch for several minutes.

 _“Like teenagers or something.”_ Hux thought to himself as Ben showered tender kisses all over his exposed neck, messing up Hux’s hair with his long fingers.

Ben stood up from the couch and then dropped to his knees in front of Hux. He started to undo Hux’s belt and unzip his pants with speed and precision. Just the anticipation of watching how ready this inexperienced man was to pleasure him made his head feel light. Hux groaned when he felt Ben’s mouth on him. It unnerved him the way his voice echoed off of the loft’s high ceiling. It reminded him that what they were doing was very real. That all the feelings he felt about what they were doing were very real. This blowjob was already an improvement on the night before and it wasn’t long before Hux came. He collapsed back onto the couch, his body limp. The remnants of an almost electric pleasure still coursed through his veins. Ben briskly walked over to the sink.

“Do you want me to get you?” Hux asked, looking over his shoulder at Ben.

Ben lifted his head up from the kitchen sink and wiped his mouth with a towel. He responded by returning to Hux and pulling him off of the couch by the front of his shirt. Ben smiled wickedly as he walked backwards, leading Hux to the bedroom. He pushed Hux onto the bed and began undressing him. 

“Ben… I don’t know if I can go again this soon.”

Once Hux was naked, Ben climbed on top of him.

“Don’t worry, I’m on top this time.”

Ben bit Hux’s neck possessively and pushed one finger inside of him. His state of undress compared Ben’s fully dressed state made the situation even more arousing. He had been dominated during sex plenty of times, but he’d never lost control. He was dangerously close to doing just that whenever he was with Ben. Ben withdrew his hand, spit on it, and then pushed two slick fingers back inside of Hux. This felt amazing. He would need Ben to fuck him soon, and if the bulge in Ben’s pants was any indicator the feeling was mutual. Ben climbed off of him and with a very gentle touch, turned him over. He heard Ben fumble in his pocket and unwrap a condom. He heard the sound of Ben’s fly unzip and the rustling of his pants.

Hux felt Ben’s large hands, fingers splayed, run down his back before gripping onto his hips and pushing inside. He grunted at the feeling of the other man inside of him.

“Am I hurting you?” For someone so brusque and unrefined, Ben was an incredibly attentive, almost caring partner. But right now, all Hux wanted was for Ben to drill him into the mattress.

Hux turned his head to look at Ben. He was going to impatiently tell him just to get on with it, but the look in Ben’s eyes told Hux that he shouldn’t say that.

“Just relax, Ben.”

That was all the encouragement he needed.

Hux gasped at the sensation of Ben ramming his prostate over and over again. He could feel himself getting hard again and began stroking himself, trying to match the speed of Ben’s deep, rapid thrusting. Ben swatted Hux’s hand away, and responded to his annoyed growls by grabbing Hux’s cock himself. It wasn’t long before Ben’s thrusts became even quicker and more erratic and he released inside of Hux. He went limp, gasping for breath as he continued jerking Hux who came again a moment later. The two collapsed. They lay there in silence with their bodies intertwined. Feeling awkward, Hux inched away from Ben. Ben responded by grabbing him and pulling him back towards him. 

Hux protested.

“Don’t talk Brendol, just let me do this.” Ben whispered into Hux’s messy hair, squeezing him.

Hux decided to give up on this one, and he didn’t exactly mind in the first place.

Hux felt the exact moment when Ben’s breathing slowed down. He was asleep, still clinging to the other man.

_“Dammit. I have to pee…”_

Hux wondered how he could untangle himself from Ben without waking him up. This was not at all how he imagined his first time in years sleeping over at someone’s house. In his sleep, Ben squeezed him even tighter. Hux had never been one for cuddling in the first place. 

_“Cuddling…”_

He loathed that word. 

_“How am I supposed to fall asleep like this?”_

Very gently, he picked up Ben’s arm and laid it away from him and did the same thing with one of Ben’s long legs which was slung over Hux. After that was done, he rolled nimbly away from Ben and walked quietly to the bathroom, took a shower, grabbed a pillow, burrowed under the covers of Ben’s bed and closed his eyes. The soft sound of Ben breathing next to him lulled him to sleep. A few hours later, Hux woke up to find that Ben had once again wrapped his entire body around Hux’s and was snoring softly. Hux closed his eyes and nuzzled into Ben’s chest before drifting back to sleep.


	11. CH 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux is having a rough week and Ben decides to spice stuff up in the bedroom. Hux obliges. There's a lot of feelings. 
> 
> I'm going ahead and putting in a CW for light BDSM and sub-drop.

Hux and Ben were in a relationship. Of the exact nature of this relationship, Hux was not certain. But it was something. Being trapped with someone for two days in the middle of a blizzard with no heat or electricity could do that. Over the next month they settled into a routine. Whereas most couples (were they a couple?) were tender and affectionate with occasional play-fighting. Ben and Hux constantly sparred with occasional tenderness. It was their own special way of showing affection. Although neither of them would dare admit it, they both absolutely adored each other.

Hux closed the door to his office and slumped into his chair. He had a migraine and felt like his veins were full of sand. Any and all herculean work-related tasks for Hux to do were happening this week, all at once, relentless and merciless. This week had left him feeling defeated. It was only Tuesday. Of course, Ben hadn’t helped matters either. Despite Starkiller having no protocol barring office relationships, the two of them agreed that it would be best if they kept their personal lives and their work lives separate. For Ben, this meant continuing to be tenacious as ever. Even though Hux now somewhat admired that aspect of him and had more understanding of it, it still made his life very difficult. Hux heard his phone vibrate and picked it up.  
“hey”

Why in God’s name did Ben insist on sending the most pointless and inane texts to Hux? Especially considering that they were both in the same building, only a few doors apart.

“Can’t talk.” Hux texted back trying to get whatever he could done. 

“I have a surprise for tonight.”

“I’m busy right now. Probably working late too.”

The picture that appeared on Hux’s phone almost gave him a heart attack. It was a pair of red, fluffy handcuffs on what Hux knew to be Ben’s nightstand.

“Want me to bring these over?”

“If you think I’m putting those on, you’re insane.”

“Who ever said they were for you?”

Reading that text alone made Hux’s cock jump.

Hux was certainly no stranger to BDSM, but he hadn’t done anything like that with Ben before. By extension, this meant that Ben had never done anything like this at all. Ever. Hux had worried about what it would mean, being with someone who was a virgin before him. He actually found he quite liked it. Ben was very enthusiastic, experimental, and so eager to please Hux in the bedroom. His thoughts went wild with all the possibilities for that little pair of red handcuffs. All of a sudden, Hux found that his migraine had vanished and that he was full of new found energy and solutions for all of his work related issues…

…………………….

Ben’s entire body practically vibrated with anticipation. Anticipation and arousal. He was completely naked, and handcuffed to Brendol’s bed. He could feel himself getting hard, watching the other man circle him with a devilish glimmer in his eye. 

_“These handcuffs were a good investment.”_ he thought to himself.

Torturously slow, Brendol pulled off his belt. Ben salivated at the sight of the other man. He was certainly making a show of this. Ben knew that Brendol had to have some (more than some) experience with this kind of thing. He adopted this dominating role with such ease, and Ben looked forward to what Brendol could do to him with all that experience.

Brendol knelt down on the bed across from Ben, folded up the belt and swatted him playfully on the inside of his thigh. Ben had worried about what it would mean, being with someone so much more experienced than him. But Brendol- reserved, cold Brendol who could be such a dick- was a surprisingly patient teacher in the bedroom. Ben would rather die than admit it, but the other man’s every encouragement made him melt. 

_“This is fucking amazing.”_ Ben thought as Hux reached between his legs and squeezed his erection.

“So hard already…” Brendol murmured. “You’re like an indulgent child. Someone needs to teach you patience, brat.” 

Ben gritted his teeth when the hand let go. The word _brat_ got to him just a little bit. He was already hyper-aware of what he perceived as disparities between them; both their difference in number of sexual partners, as well as in the appearance department and the put-together-life-having department. He didn't need Brendol to verbally taunt him. Sometimes, the mere proximity and affection of someone as good-looking as Brendol was enough of a taunt.

 _"I already know you think I'm a useless child. I don't need you saying it out loud..."_ He glared at Brendol, but this entire predicament felt so... good.

“Someone needs to teach you restraint.” Brendol leaned over Ben and smoothed his rough, gentle hands over his prone body. Ben whimpered softly and thrust his hips upward desperate for contact.

Brendol laughed when he realized what Ben was doing. 

“Look at you, Ben. So fucking needy. It’s disgraceful.” He said, ghosting one finger along Ben’s length.

Technically, Brendol worked for him. He could even fire him, technically, if he wanted to. And here he was, giving up control and letting someone who he once loathed make him his bitch. It was exhilarating. 

Brendol continued this gently infuriating touch, and nibbled on Ben’s ear lightly.

The breath whooshed out of Ben’s body and he felt dizzy.

“Please Brendol…” He said, trying to steady his shaking voice. Even though he felt like he might completely fall apart, there was no way he was going to let stupid fucking Brendol know that. 

“I know exactly what I’m doing.” He whispered into Ben’s ear, taking his pointer finger and brushing it on Ben’s lips. Ben opened his mouth and sucked lasciviously on the finger, swirling his tongue around it. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew how this looked. The rest of his mind didn’t give a fuck. Brendol pulled his finger out of Ben’s mouth and began circling one of Ben’s nipples before twisting it. Ben arched his back and bit his tongue trying to stifle the incredibly horny sound that threatened to come out of his mouth.

“How adorable. You’re trying to pretend that this isn’t driving you completely up the wall.” He swiped his entire tongue across the side of Ben’s neck and then switched to the other nipple. Ben thought his dick might explode if this continued for much longer, and his face burned at Brendol’s taunting. 

_“Maybe I should kill him.”_

Without warning, Brendol grabbed Ben’s cock and began jerking him relentlessly fast. Ben yelped at the sudden sensation.

“There we go. Let me hear you.”

_“I mean, he works out more than you do, he’s definitely stronger. But you’re taller. Not by much, but you’ve got, like, an inch on him. You might be able to murder him if you really put in the effort.”_

Another completely humiliating sound passed through his lips; the shame at his predicament mixing intoxicatingly with the lust running through his veins. 

“Good boy.” Brendol whispered, laughing. Ben felt his heart flutter.

_“On the other hand, he’s not completely terrible. You should keep him around.”_

When Brendol let go of Ben, he felt tears spring into his eyes. He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take.

_“Murder it is.”_

And yet, he did not. He didn't use the safe word either.

……………………………………….

Every sound Ben made sent shivers down Hux’s spine. He knew these sounds were wordless pleading for him to take pity on Ben, but they only served to make Hux want to hear more of those beautiful noises. Hux would be lying if he said that he was not drawing just slightly on years of real-life pent up frustrations towards Ben during this little session of theirs, but his every action was tinged with affection for the other man. He would never want to hurt Ben. In fact, seeing Ben like this, sweating, flushed and completely ravaged with lust made Hux’s heart swell. He wanted to string Ben out until he couldn’t bear it any longer and then smother him with stimulation. He wanted to break that brilliant brain of his and be there for every second of it. To both push him over the edge and catch him when he fell. Hux felt like he could do this for hours, but less than ten minutes later his cock decided it had other plans.   
Hux grabbed Ben by the jaw and brought the other man’s face towards his. Ben was nearly sobbing. He looked pitiful; Hux thought he’d had enough, and he needed to fuck Ben now.

“Please, Brendol. I can’t fucking take it anymore…” Any dignity Ben had walked into this situation with was gone. Hux didn’t expect that someone with as much pride as Ben could ever be reduced to begging like this. He almost felt guilty, but he was too aroused to entertain the thought for much longer. When Hux stood up off the bed, Ben fell back and whimpered.

Hux began undressing himself and put on a condom and a generous amount of lube before crawling on top of Ben and flipping him over.

“I’ve decided to have mercy on you.” Hux murmured, biting Ben’s ear as he began thrusting into him.

Ben came almost immediately into Hux’s grip, shouting ecstatically, thanking him fervently.

Hux continued thrusting, not letting up.

“You feel so good.” Hux said between breaths, slapping Ben on the ass.

He whined in response, shuddering.

“Such a good boy for me…” Hux purred.

“Oh God, Brendol!” Ben moaned. “Slow down, I can’t come again this soon.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Hux said, continuing his steady thrusting and grabbing Ben’s cock again. Hux’s hand was still slick with Ben’s cum from his last orgasm. In a few minutes, Ben came again. He was nearly screaming. The moment this happened, Hux came so hard his knees gave out. Panting, he fell on top of Ben. He reached up to undo the handcuffs and Ben slumped over, exhausted. 

Hux didn’t even know where to begin. He had never completely lost himself in an orgasm before. Not like this. He had never in his entire life felt this exposed with another person. It was upsetting.  
He looked over and realized that Ben was rubbing his wrists. He reached out and grabbed them, inspecting for bruises. There were some red looking marks, but nothing serious.

“Did I hurt you?”

“Calm down, Brendol. If there was a problem, I would’ve let you know.”

“Of course.” he said, placing them back at Ben’s side. Embarrassed at his sudden protective impulse. 

“We should do that again sometime.” Ben finally said. They were laying side by side. Ben was turned away from Hux. The way he said the words, it was as if he was giving some sort of shameful admission.

“So you enjoyed it, then?”

“I guess.”

“Ben, are you alright?”

“Fine.” He did not sound fine. Hux turned around and leaned over to look at Ben. Ben was trembling slightly and his face looked pale. He was sweating.

“Ben!” he almost scolded. “What is wrong with you?” 

“Nothing! I said I’m fine.”

Hux donned a pair of boxer briefs and left the room. He looked around in the fridge with some urgency and finally settled on grabbing an apple and part of a cold block of raw tofu. 

“This will have to do.” He walked back to the room and set them down on the nightstand with a glass of water.

“Eat this.” He ordered.

He glared at Hux, but his trembling voice betrayed his condition.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Shut up and just do it.” Hux snapped, not meaning to sound so rough. At least it put Ben into action.

Hux stared at Ben, watching as he slowly finished the plate and drank the water. The color returned to Ben’s face and he stopped shaking. 

“Brendol, I’m sorry.” He finally said, breaking the tense silence.

“It was only low blood-sugar.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Ben laid back down on the bed and turned away from Hux. 

“I’m sorry that you had to see me like that tonight.”

“Why the hell would you be sorry for that?” 

“I was completely out of control… I looked stupid. You think I’m a child.”

“You did not look stupid.” Hux smiled at the memory. “Actually, you were rather cute.” He turned over and rustled Ben’s hair. Ben tensed at the contact and Hux pulled his hand away as though it had been burned.

“What the hell is all this about?”

Ben sighed. “Look, I know I’m not your usual type at all.”

“Oh really? And what is my usual type then?”

“Flawless body, good in bed, confident… Beautiful. And here I am. Weird and awkward. And needy.”

“I don’t care that you’re weird and awkward.” 

“Then why were you making fun of me?”

“Christ Ben, we were having sex! I didn’t mean all that. Shit… I’m so sorry, Ben.” He meant it. 

_“I tried so hard to make sure this was completely on the up- and- up. We had a safe word and everything... Great job, Hux. You broke Ben.”_

“Look, Ben, if you’re not comfortable with bondage, we never have to do it again.”

“No. It’s fine. I liked it. I’ve just been thinking about this for awhile. I’m sorry for getting all weird.”

Hux grabbed Ben squarely by the shoulders and turned him over. They were face to face. Hux’s light green eyes pierced into Ben’s dark brown eyes.

“Ben. I like you. I like being around you. I like the way you look. I enjoy our time together. If these things were not true, we would not be doing… this.”

Ben curled in on himself and pressed his face into Hux’s chest, breathing deeply.

As if his body was possessed, Hux found himself wrapping both of his arms around the other man in response.

“Oh God, Brendol…” His voice was muffled.

“I’m such a fucking nerd for you.”

Hux felt like he was going to suffocate.


	12. CH 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux screws up. Why can't these two children seem to understand how feelings work?

_“I have to end this. There’s no other way.”_

Was it the unnerving expressions he made? Was it the way his dark eyes looked like they could see straight into your soul? Was it the habit he always had of chewing on his bottom lip whenever he was nervous? His unkempt dark hair? The ridiculously slow way he sauntered around instead of walking like a normal human being? The fact that he always had to fucking have the last fucking word on fucking everything? Whatever the reason was, Hux didn’t care. But there was something about Ben Solo that made Hux feel like he was dying, and not in a good way. It was as if whenever he was around, Hux felt like he was going to freeze and melt at the same time; like his pulse was somehow simultaneously speeding up and slowing down at equally lethal rates. Was it possible to be haunted by a living person? If so, Ben was Hux’s own personal poltergeist. If Hux was a spiritual man, he would have felt the need to take burning sage with him everywhere to ward off these unbearable feelings. He felt like a nervous wreck at just the thought of being near Ben. The only feeling worse was the thought of _not_ being near him.

“Brendol?”

_“I can’t keep seeing him. It’s for my own well being.”_

“Brendol?” Ben waved his hand in front of Hux’s face. “Earth to Brendol?”

“What?”

“Were you even listening?”

“Of course. Sounds good.”

“Brendol?”

“Yes?”

“I just asked you what you thought about using company funds to build a functioning death ray.”

Hux sighed. He wished he could be anywhere else in the world. And yet here he was: In Ben’s kitchen eating Chinese take out in the dim orange light of around 15 assorted lamps.

“Seriously. What the fuck is going on with you?” Ben asked. 

_“I’m breaking up with you.”_ He thought to himself.

_“Breaking up? We’re hardly a couple.”_

“I’m pretty tired from work. I think I should head home.”

“You could sleep here.” Ben offered. They had spent the night at each other’s homes plenty of times by now. It was nothing new.

“No.” It was much more abrupt than Hux had meant to sound.

“Okay. That’s fine.” Ben said, getting up from the table. Hux knew Ben was terrible at masking his emotions. Especially when he was feeling upset or hurt. 

Hux felt a pang of guilt. Ben was rushing to put all the takeout boxes in the fridge. Hux couldn’t see Ben’s face, but his shoulders were slumped and he moved quicker and more frantic than usual. Hux felt the need to go to him. But he did not.

_“Stop it, Hux. This is for your own good.”_

Hux gathered his things slowly; buying himself time to come up with a game plan. He went over to Ben who was still rushing around the kitchen in a fashion Hux had never seen before. Hux placed a careful hand on his shoulder. Ben turned around. He looked distressed.

“I just wanted to tell you that I’m leaving. Goodnight.”

When Ben leaned in for a kiss, Hux flinched involuntarily. Ben looked like he had been slapped. 

“I’ll call you later.” Hux said to fill the silence.

“I doubt that.” Ben said, venom laced into the tone of his voice. He glared at Hux; his hurt slowly morphing into rage.

Hux felt his heart stop. He opened his mouth to speak, but Ben interrupted. 

“Until you grow a pair and tell me what the hell’s going on, you can shut the fuck up. Goodnight.”

Hux had never left a room so fast in his entire life.

_“Well done, Hux. Another relationship ruined. Back to the way things were.”_

The air was dry and biting. It was not the kind of chill that brought snow. It was the clear-skied cold that made you think you’d never be warm again. 

_“It’s just the way you are. You were never meant for a serious relationship. And thank God you ended it when you did before things got too serious.”_

Hux absent mindedly turned another corner. He had this walk memorized.

_“It would have been much harder to get yourself out then.”_

A gust of wind hit him face on.

_“Ben was a nice interlude, but it’s back to your normal life. No more dealing with some fragile eccentric just to get sex. No more losing sleep over that overgrown boy. No more having someone take up your whole weekend.”_

He was a few houses down from his own at this point.

_“The good news is, he’ll definitely break up with you after tonight.”_

Hux broke out into a feverish sweat.

_“Wait...”_

Heavy dread anchored itself into his soul. Hux didn’t want Ben to break up with him. Hux didn’t want Ben to break up with him at all. Hux wanted the exact opposite of that to happen. He liked being around Ben. He liked arguing with him for fun. He liked how emotional and passionate Ben was about literally everything. He liked waking up multiple times at night to find himself wrapped up in a tight embrace. He looked forward to the weekends because he knew who he would be spending them with. Maybe he actually liked all those unbearable feelings he got from being around Ben. 

_“…I like Ben. A lot.”_

Hux walked into the house and slumped against the door and slid down to the floor. Millicent approached him with curiosity.

_“I more than like Ben…”_

He picked up Millicent and clutched onto her as though she was a life preserver and he were in the middle of the ocean.

Maybe the way Ben laughed, and worried his lip nervously with his teeth and ran his fucking fingers through his dumb messy hair and argued all the goddam time and stared at Hux with his stupid big eyes and provoked people and got fired up over nothing and owned 20 fucking identical black shirts and ripped out all the fucking lights and bought fifty thousand goddam lamps and was a fucking vegan and was the fucking worst cook ever and had little kissable moles all over his stupid fucking pale body and smiled that stupid fucking crooked smile and seemed to know fucking everything and swung his long legs like a fucking child whenever he sat at a fucking barstool all still made Hux feel like dying, but in a good way?

 

“I think I’m very fond of him.” He said to Millicent.

_“And now he probably never wants to see you again.”_

Hux pulled out his phone.

“I apologize about tonight we should talk tomorrow.”

_“There.”_

Right when he got into work, Hux went straight to Ben’s office and knocked on the door.

There was no answer. 

Hux bit his tongue, feeling like he was going to burst from all the things he wished he could say to Ben right then and there.

_“Calm down, Hux. Just stick to the point.”_

After what seemed like an eternity, Hux watched the doorknob turn. The door creaked open just enough for Ben to peer out at him. Hux lit up at just seeing him. Ben’s face was totally blank.

“Ben… It’s good to see you.”

Ben stared at Hux in silence.

“I sent you a text last night, but you never responded.”

Ben did not reply.

“Like I said, I’m sorry about last night.”

More silence.

“Let’s grab some coffee during lunch break. We can talk then.”

“Fuck off.” 

The door slammed in his face. 

Now Hux truly felt like he was dying.


	13. CH 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux pines. Ben ponders. Rey is there too!

It had been two days and already Millicent missed Ben terribly. When Hux came home, she seemed to wonder where Ben was. She didn’t understand why Hux didn’t ever do anything after work like before; why he stayed at home and listened to stacks upon stacks of doleful, contemplative jazz records in solitude. Yes. Millicent felt keenly the void left by Ben. 

_“You idiot, it’s time to get over him. It’s not like you were even dating. You were simply two individuals who enjoyed each other’s company in an intellectual as well as a sexual way.”_

But this went beyond sex. Sure, Hux missed the sex. But there was so much more that he missed as well. He would have given anything just to have Ben back as a friend, but he hadn’t spoken a single word to Hux in 48 hours. 

_“What have I done?”_

Hux was absentmindedly washing a plate. The plate had been scrubbed clean five minutes ago, but he didn’t care. He just wanted something to do. But no amount of activity could distract his brain from the black pit in his stomach. It was an unbearable, indescribable feeling. Something like deep lingering pain mixed with longing and regret. Millicent pawed at his leg. He picked her up and walked over to the couch where he curled up next to her.

_“Guilt.”_

Hux was no stranger to the feeling of guilt. It was something he had plenty of experience with and he’d tried so hard to never feel again.

_“It’s hard to feel guilty about anything when you don’t have anyone to hurt, isn’t it?”_

……………..

Ben felt his entire body bristle as he walked into the bar. It was dark, crowded and the air felt stiflingly moist. He checked the address to make sure if it was the right place. Unfortunately, it was. He looked around. Being over six feet gave one an advantage with people spotting. But he couldn’t find who he was looking for.

_“Where the fuck is she?”_

He grabbed a seat by the bar, absentmindedly swinging his legs.

_“Maybe I’m here first.”_

He almost jumped when his phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket and swore under his breath before turning it off.

_“Fucking Brendol.”_

Ben couldn’t believe how stupid he’d been to fall for Brendol fucking Hux; some prick from finances who Ben felt might have been an intellectual equal to him. People were pretty fucking stupid, and upon meeting Brendol, Ben knew he was not stupid at all and he felt that this might be the first person he actually respected. Hated, maybe, but definitely respected. The attraction came later, like some sort of parasitic tropical worm that burrowed into the pores of his skin and grew inside of him; slowly taking over. It remained there still. 

_“Well, that’s what you get for falling for someone who’s locked their soul up in the emotional equivalent of a Swiss Bank vault.”_

Anyone with half a brain could tell that Brendol was one of the most tightly wound, private, concealed people on the planet. It was as if the only time he ever allowed himself to be vulnerable was during sex. Was he even vulnerable then? Ben shuddered thinking of how much of himself he laid bare to Hux during their moments of intimacy, and to imagine that all he thought he’d received in return from Hux was just a lie. Ben coughed. The air was thick with tobacco smoke.

_"Why did you even agree to meet her here?”_

Brendol was one pretentious motherfucker, but Ben definitely appreciated his taste. There is no way he would have ever ended up somewhere like this with Brendol. 

“Oh my GOD! It’s Ben Solo! Can I have your autograph???” The woman’s voice was a spot-on valley girl impression.

On instinct, Ben was going to tell her to fuck off. That is, until he turned and saw the girl standing in front of him. She was a petite brunette in a khaki colored pea coat. 

“You’re late.” He said.

“Am not! I’ve just been sitting in the back.” She said, laughing.

“What the hell? You should have texted me.”

“Whatever, just shut up and sit down with me.”

Ben huffed and got up to follow the girl. She reached up and squeezed his shoulder lovingly. 

“Good to see you, Ben.”

“You too, Rey.”

“Your mother sends her regards and says she was sad to miss you when you were in California.”

“I was on the other side of the fucking state, okay? And isn’t it weird that you hang out with my own mom way more than I do?”

“It’s not my fault you don’t ever go see her.”

“I live in another state.”

“Exactly. So quit bitching. I can’t help that your mom is awesome.”

“Sometimes I think she probably loves you more than she does me.”

“I don't know about that. She sure does love your dumb ass. Don’t know why, though.”

“Fuck you too.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me how my flight went?”

“Well you’re here, aren’t you?”

“What’s wrong, Ben? You’re slightly more disgruntled than usual.”

“I just hate places like this.”

“You hate everything… No. Something’s really messing with you.”

“You maybe?”

“How’s your guy?”

Ben did not respond. Rey put down her drink and looked at Ben with deep concern.

“Oh my God, don’t tell me you’re in a fight with Elrond!”

“Brendol. For the last goddam time, Rey. His name is Brendol.”

“Whatever. Some weird elf name. So, trouble in paradise, huh?”

“Something like that.”

“What happened?”

“Things got all weird.”

“That’s specific.”

“Fuck off.”

“How am I supposed to help you if I don’t know what’s going on?”

“I don’t need your help.”

“Oh, please. How long have we known each other?”

Ben took a long drink.

“There’s really not much else to say. Things… got all weird.”

“You’re really not giving me much to work with.”

“Okay fine! I sort of opened up to him and then after that he completely changed. Just… Closed off.”

“Ouch. That’s rough.”

“We were at my place the other night and it was like he was repulsed by me or something.”

“Fuck that. You are so non repulsive. So what was going on?”

“Dunno. I told him to get the fuck out. We haven’t spoken in two days. Fucker keeps on trying to call me, though.”

“Jesus, you do not play around.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“It means that is quite a breakup.”

“Come on, this isn’t a break up. I think we both just need some headspace that’s all.”

“Does Brendol know that?”

Ben paused thoughtfully.

“Maybe I’m fine if he doesn’t.”

“You are stone cold, Ben Solo. I would never mess with you.”

“That is a lie, and you know it.”

Rey laughed.

_“Is this a break up? Did we break up?”_

Ben wasn’t sure either. But he knew deep down in his heart of hearts that Brendol had hurt him. He was pissed that he’d allowed himself to have enough feelings about Brendol to get hurt. How could he not? Brendol was an incredibly brilliant, incredibly handsome man. At first, Ben thought he was just a conceited incompetent like most of the other automatons who thrived off of order and organization, but he was different. Brendol had a strange, quiet sort of energy about him and a precise, deliberate manner that intrigued Ben. When Ben got to know him, he realized there was a nuanced human soul there. He was funny, and at times incredibly kind despite desperate attempts to hide so. Ben used to feel hopeless about the thought of ever getting with Brendol. Surely, such a put-together, normal, handsome man was completely out of Ben’s league. Then, he realized the real Brendol Hux was just some overly thoughtful weirdo who lived alone with a cat. That was that Brendol who made him feel week in the knees.

_“Shit. I really like him.”_

“What’s wrong now, Ben?”

“Everything is stupid.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Rey said lifting her glass sarcastically. Fully committed, Ben nodded and lifted his glass as well. No matter how much the issues with Brendol made him feel like he was going to die, he had Rey to distract him. Usually his work, his passion, was his distraction of choice, but Brendol being there screwed the whole thing up. 

“You know I love you, right?”

Ben rolled his eyes. He hated when Rey said things that made him get emotional.

“I know.”

This woman was a good friend.


	14. CH14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben gets a whole chapter this time!
> 
> Hux has some things to say to Ben...

The doorbell rang.

“Hey, I thought I told you fuckers to get lost!” Ben yelled towards the door.

 _“Goddam girl scouts….”_

He ignored the door and continued working on his proposal for Monday. After getting to see one of his best friends, he was feeling much better about life, and he had better things to do than suffer fools anyway. The doorbell rang again. Ben stood up from the floor and went over to the door, ready to put the fear of God in those green vested little demons. He swung open the door and all vitriol drained from his body. 

“What the fuck do you want?” He said, trying desperately to sound unaffected and off-handed.

Hux was breathless and red faced. He looked windblown and he was wearing some sort of skintight brightly colored zip-up jacket with matching pants. It was unusual to say the least.

_“He’s snapped, and now he’s here to kill you.”_

“Ben Solo, you are one stubborn son of a bitch.”

“I said, what the fuck do you want?”

“Well, since it seems that you won’t answer your phone I assumed the best way to contact you would be to find you personally.”

“Leave this building before I call the police.”

“Not until you break up with me properly instead of just ghosting me. I think I deserve that.” Hux was trying to sound like he was cool with all of this, but there was palpable emotion rising in his voice. Ben wondered how much sleep he’d gotten the past few days, if any.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Brendol! Break up? What is your problem? I’m pissed at you! You pissed me off and now you have to deal with my fury. Now get the fuck out of here!”

“What is _wrong_ with you?” Brendol puffed up his chest and stood there with his ridiculously good posture, but his face was that of a broken man.

“Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m capable of, you watched me throw a muffin at the HR director last year! I’ll treat you just like anyone else!”

“Well, you won’t treat me like this, I’m not ‘anyone else’ and I’m certainly not the HR director either!!”

“Oh yeah? Who the hell do you think you are, then? What makes you so special?”

“I’m… I’m your… boyfriend!”

“Oh yeah?!”

“Yeah! I’m your boyfriend!! Are you satisfied?!”

“And what the fuck does that make me then?”

“That makes you my boyfriend!”

“Oh! OHHHH! So now he fucking says it! So you admit it!”

“Yeah! I do! We’re DATING! We’re BOYFRIENDS! And you’re going to have to DEAL WITH IT!”

“Oh yeah?! So what? Now you think I have special fucking SPARKLY FEELINGS for you or some shit? ‘Cause guess what??!! I DO!!!!”

“Well that’s just fucking perfect because SO DO I!!!!!”

“What a surprise!!! I didn’t even think a cold, magnificent, beautiful HEART-EATER like you HAD feelings!”

“You think I don’t have feelings? I have TONS of feelings! I have WAY TOO MANY feelings! I have so many feelings about you that it SCARES me because I don’t like feeling powerless to the sheer force of my emotions!!!!”

Brendol took a step towards Ben and jabbed him in the chest with his pointer finger, glaring menacingly at him.

“I have literally never met a single person quite like you. Everything about you drives me insane in the most fantastic way possible and I have never felt like this in my entire life. You not talking to me was like torture and I couldn’t stand it anymore. HAPPY??!!!”

The both stood there in silence, inches from each other. Ben was not prepared for this kind of declaration. Brendol looked slightly embarrassed by the outburst.

_“Good. Serves him right.”_

“So that’s how you feel, huh?”

Brendol shrugged. 

“Yep.”

“What the fuck are you wearing?”

“Running gear.”

“Huh.”

“Look, Ben. I’m sorry. I was terrible to you the other day. I froze up, and you didn’t deserve that. Can you forgive me?”

“I guess I could have handled things better myself.”

“Millicent misses you too.”

“Fine. But I’m only doing this for Millicent.”

Ben leaned in and kissed Brendol. This time, he did not flinch. In fact, it was like his body melted into Ben’s like the physical manifestation of a languid sigh.

“I adore you.” Brendol whispered to Ben when he pulled away from the kiss.

Ben felt light-headed hearing those words from someone he felt the same for. Brendol froze. There was a look of vague horror etched on his face, and his glassy stare seemed to be focused directly behind Ben. Ben spun around. There were approximately 5 or 6 girl scouts standing behind them looking similarly horrified, and one extremely offended mother.

_“I wonder how much they saw.”_

Ben grabbed Brendol roughly by the shirt and dragged him inside the apartment.

“Keep moving. Nothing to see here.” 

Ben slammed the door.


	15. CH 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's some fluff to cure your Monday blues!

No one had ever fucked Hux like that in his entire life. The moment the door closed, Ben descended on him like a typhoon. It was an overwhelming amount of affection and attention and Hux did not mind at all.   
Ben was possessive and wild, yet achingly tender in the way he slowly stripped Hux and kissed every inch of his body before fucking him senseless. Right there on the floor. It made him feel like his brain was turning inside out.

“Ben… Oh god Ben….”

_“Who is saying that?”_

“Mmmmmm…. Ben….”

The way Ben was pumping in and out of him felt so good it brought tears to his eyes.

“Ben….”

 _“Fuck. It’s me, isn't it?”_

This was the first time he’d ever said Ben’s name during sex.

“Keep saying my name…” Ben whispered before biting down on Hux’s shoulder.

He came screaming it.

They lay there on the floor for an hour or so Ben resting his head on Hux’s stomach. Absentmindedly, Hux wove his fingers in and out of Ben’s soft silky hair. 

“I’m so sorry, Ben.” Hux finally said, breaking the silence.

“Sorry for what? Awesome sex?”

“No… I’m sorry about the other day.”

“We already talked about this. Don’t worry about it.” Ben said, slightly annoyed.

“Look, Ben. I’m going to say this one time and one time only so you'd better listen.” Hux began. Ben looked up at him.

“When it comes to this…” He searched for the right phrase. “When it comes to this type of thing… I can be kind of an idiot sometimes.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I am incredibly fond of you, Ben. Incredibly so. It means that I’m a nerd for you, too.”

Ben looked almost taken aback, but happy. He smiled. 

“Wow, Brendol. You really laid it on the line.”

“I guess so, but only because it’s how I truly feel…”

“Is it because I’m oh so sexy and I’m oh so fine?”

“I’m trying to be serious right now, Ben!”

“Are you going to make love to me tonight?”

“Stop it!”

“Are you going to lay me down on a bed of roses and hit it till the morning light--- owwwwwww!!!!” Hux grabbed a fistful of Ben’s hair and yanked on it. 

“Jesus Christ, Brendol!!” Ben was laughing through the pain, smacking lightly at Hux’s hand.

“Serves you right!” He mumbled letting go.

“I’m not making fun of you, don’t get all upset!”

Hux folded his arms across his chest and turned away scowling. 

“I think it’s cute, that’s all! Imagining someone as tightly wound and private as you playing such incredibly genuine and heartfelt but seriously fucking terrible music.”

“Oh really? Is that why you blasted it throughout the entire office that one time? Because you thought it was cute?” 

“Actually, yes.”

“Am I supposed to believe that?”

He blushed furiously. “Go to hell, Brendol…”

Hux laughed out loud. “Are you serious?!”

“Shut up!”

“You were attracted to me so you decided to make my life miserable? Like a child?”

“Would you please not antagonize me?!”

“I’m not making fun of you…” He most definitely was.

“I just think it’s cute!” he said, smiling maliciously while ruffling Ben’s already messed up hair.

“Okay! Okay! Cut it out!”

He let go of Ben, still smirking.

“Where are you going?” Ben asked, watching Hux as he stood up and walked into Ben’s kitchen.

“I’m starving, and I don’t want to go out anywhere.” He responded, rummaging through the refrigerator and cabinets. 

By some miracle he managed to cobble together a decent brunch. He noticed that Ben, who by this time had gotten dressed again and was over at the table working on god knows what, looked over at him and smirked every so often.

“What?” Hux finally demanded with a scowl.

Ben grinned at him. “You’re happy, that’s all… Happier than I think I’ve ever seen you.” 

Hux continued cooking. “I’ve been happy plenty of times. Quit acting like it's a big deal."

“You’re humming to yourself.”

He did not respond to Ben, but he did not stop humming either.


	16. CH 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux gets a little bit of good-natured revenge on Ben. Hux learns some of Ben's backstory, and maybe we all learn a little bit of Hux's too....

“Okay, I’m going to need you to tell me what the hell this is all about.” Ben said, eyeing Hux suspiciously from across the table. 

“What’s wrong, Ben??

“You’re up to something.” He said, getting up to clear his plate. 

“Oh no, let me get that.” Hux said, rushing over to Ben and grabbing the plate from him.

“I don’t like it either. I’m watching you, Brendol Hux.”

“Close your eyes.”

Ben started to protest.

“I said to close your eyes.” Hux said, smiling deviously at Ben.

What little color there was drained from Ben’s already pale face. He slammed his head onto the table and cradled it in his hands.

“NOOO!!”

“Oh yes!” Hux replied with a wicked glimmer in his eye before darting into the kitchen.

“You bastard!!” His voice was muffled by the table. Millicent hopped onto the table and began licking the back of Ben’s head and looking confused.

Hux came back with his hands behind his back. 

“Alright, you can look now.” Hux was enjoying every second of this sweet victory. He was finally the one who got the best of Ben.

“Fine, let’s just get this over with…” Ben said in defeat. There was a bleak, cold look in his eyes.

Hux produced a single vanilla cupcake and a wrapped present before setting them on the table.

“Happy Birthday, Ben.” Hux whispered, looking very smug.

“I was always so careful… How did you find out?”

“Company Directory.”

“Godammit!!”

“Well, aren’t you going to open it?’

“Fine.” He grumbled, before ripping into the crisply folded silver paper and tossing it behind him. He opened up the box and looked up at Hux.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” 

“Do you like it?”

“It’s a sweater.” Ben responded as though that explained everything.

“A _very nice_ sweater.” Hux corrected. “You always wear the same thing every day, I thought I’d get you something a little nicer… And I thought maroon would look good on you”

“What? I look fine already.”

“Ben, all you own are ratty black T-Shirts.”

“Yeah, because it saves time! I have way more important things to do than decide what I’m going to wear.” 

“I’m fairly certain one sweater won’t throw too big of a wrench into your delicate system.”

“It totally will.” Ben said, moping. “If I wear that dumb sweater I’ll have to think about you all day…”

“Oh Ben, that’s actually really nice of you to say.” Hux said. At times, Ben could be surprisingly sweet and other times, he was begrudging and indirect at best. This was one of those times apparently.

“It is pretty soft…” Ben admitted. “I guess.”

“And that’s not your only birthday present, either.” Hux said crawling under the table.

There was a loud bang.

“Fuck!” Hux shouted, rubbing his head from under the table.

_“I meant this to be much sexier.”_

“Smooth, Brendol.” Ben responded coolly.

“Oh, shut up.” Hux muttered as he positioned himself between Ben’s legs.

Ben was laughing at Hux. “What the hell are you even—ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……” Hux felt Ben’s hand caress the back of his head and pull him forward.

“You’re getting quite a few texts tonight aren’t you, Birthday Boy?” Hux was half-asleep when he heard Ben’s phone go off for what he could have sworn was the 90th time. 

“It’s just my stupid friends and my stupid parents.”

Hux realized that he and Ben had never discussed their families or friends… Hux hardly knew anything about Ben’s life before working at Starkiller. It was difficult for him to imagine a loner like Ben even having friends.

“How terrible of them, to wish you Happy Birthday.” Hux said, sidling up to Ben and laying his head in Ben’s lap next to a sleeping Millicent.

“I know. It’s not some big fucking deal. It’s just another year closer to death; another year alive on this shit heap of a planet.”

“How optimistic of you.” Hux replied, petting Millicent’s head. 

“Jeez, Brendol. You sound like my mom.”

Hux had always wondered what kind of people Ben’s parents were. 

_“Either completely normal or completely insane, no in between.”_

“What are you smirking about?” Ben asked, glaring.

“I’m just wondering what kind of person the dear mother of Ben Solo must be?”

“Let’s just say, if I told you her name, you would know who she was, that’s all.”

“You’re the only famous person I know with the last name Solo, so I think it’s fine.”

“Aww, you think I’m famous? I’m flattered! But too bad for you, because Solo is my dad’s last name.”

“Divorced?”

“Try never married.”

“I see… So who is this mother of yours then? Now I’m interested.”

Ben sighed. “Fine. It’s not like we hate each other or something, we talk. It’s just she’s doing her thing and I’m doing mine and I don’t want my success to be all wrapped up in hers and vice versa. So if you tell anyone, I’ll feed you your own heart.” He said it as casually as one talks about the weather.

“I won’t tell a soul.” Hux swore.

“Okay… My mom is Leia Organa.”

“Are you serious?!” Hux exclaimed sitting up causing Millicent to retreat to the other side of the room.

Leia Organa was a Democratic Senator from California, and although she was well-known as an outspoken progressive among the political sphere, she was even better known as an activist and tireless philanthropist. Leia Organa was a household name synonymous with both tear-jerker public service announcements on the plights of war-torn countries and the ruthless verbal and intellectual slaughter of conservative pundits in defense of a variety of causes on national television. 

“No way. You’re shitting me. Does Leia Organa even have children?”

“She’s got one.” Ben replied flippantly. “I wasn’t exactly the kind of kid you take to fundraising galas in Washington, you might imagine. It wasn’t like she was ashamed of me or something. She totally owned up to me, but it just didn’t come up a lot.”

Hux couldn’t lie. It made some sense. Perhaps that was why Ben was so hell-bent on dragging all of mankind kicking and screaming into the light of what he saw as progress. Maybe this was Ben’s own warped version of philanthropy and caring about the state of the world.”

“The son of a politician, huh? So that’s where you get your charismatic personality then.” Hux said after some thought?”

“Nah, I always thought that was more from my dad.” He replied with a crooked smile that melted Hux’s heart.

“Another politician?”

_“Or maybe a college professor or something? A Scientist? Musician?”_

“Truck driver.” 

“Really?”

“I had to go to some bullshit private school in Sacramento all year, then I’d spend all summer on the road with my dad.”

“Sounds nice.”

“Not always. Things were pretty crazy. Shit got real.”

“What do you mean?”

Ben paused with a consternated look.

“How do I say this?” Ben said laughing to himself. 

“When I said my dad was a truck driver… Well, that’s a lie. My dad is a drug dealer who also drives a truck.”

“Your father was a drug dealer?”

“No, he still is one.” Ben corrected casually.

“Did your mother know?”

“Senator Organa has always maintained a fairly… pro-marijuana stance, but no. No she did not. It was pretty bad when she found out.” He said, shuddering slightly at the mere memory.

“They were one fucked up, dysfunctional couple. They probably never should have gotten together in the first place. By the time I came along, it was already over. But as parents… they could have been worse. What about you?”

“Do your parents still live in California, Ben?”

“Okay, wow.”

“We don’t talk.” Hux replied blankly.

“You don’t have to get into anything you don’t want to.” Ben gave Hux a reassuring smile, which was uncharacteristic of him. It was like he knew exactly what Hux needed him to say. That part was normal, though. Ben always picked up on what he was supposed to do or say, it’s just that usually he would do or say the polar opposite. 

“Thanks.” Hux said.

“Goodnight, Brendol.”

“Goodnight, Ben.”

They went to sleep that night in each other’s embrace and Millicent sandwiched in the middle of them, purring contently.


	17. CH 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day at work, feat. Mitaka and some good old fashioned office bet-placing! Also, I was more than slightly influenced by this song right here when I wrote this chapter!  
> https://youtu.be/XIqVCJWSoeE

The next day, everyone’s eyes were on Ben as he entered the office. A hush fell over the room. He arrived after Hux did and he got to witness it all. 

_“He really does look nice in maroon. It’s a shame he’ll only wear black all the time…”_

Nobody knew quite what to say, but they all seemed shocked by the sudden break in several years of nothing but black tee shirts.

_“Where the fuck did he even get twenty of the same exact shirt anyway? Did he do a mass order or something?”_

“Howdy, Mr. Solo!”

“Mitaka.” Ben said with a curt nod.

“Excited for your big presentation today?”

“Excited? When Jesus Christ rose from the dead was he ‘excited’? When Einstein discovered the Theory of Relativity was he ‘excited’? I’m changing the world, not auditioning for American fucking Idol, Mitaka!”

“I like your new duds! Decided to switch things up a little, huh?” He did some little gestures on “switch things up” as though that was incredibly edgy.

“Where did you get it, huh? 

Ben proceeded to turn the same color as his sweater.

“Uh oh! Did a sweetheart give it to you?” He asked conspiratorially with a wink.

“Goddamit Mitaka, get out of my face before I throw something else at you. You’d better thank God that there’s no muffins here this time!” Ben turned on his heel and stormed off.

The human resources director paled and scurried to his office. Everyone else stood gaping. Brendol choked on his Earl Grey, guffawing with laughter. A couple of the accountants looked at him; they were terrified. He walked to the meeting room, still chuckling to himself. When he arrived, the only other person there was President Snoke.

“Good morning, President Snoke.”

“Good morning, Mr. Hux. Are you prepared for today?” Snoke knew good and well that Hux was always fully prepared for any and every presentation and meeting he was involved with, and most of the ones he wasn’t involved with too. He was of course speaking of Hux and Ben’s long history of boardroom squabbles.

“Fully.” Hux responded with confidence.

“Of course. I was certain that you and Mr. Solo would manage to work out any disagreements… outside the office.”

_“What the fuck does that mean?”_

“I am so glad to see that you two have set aside your differences and decided to work together as colleagues.” Hux sighed in relief. 

_“Good. He doesn’t know, then.”_

As more and more people filed into the room, Hux saw Ben. They made eye contact and nodded at one another. To anyone else, it would go unnoticed. But it was their own way of wishing each other luck. Ben sat down at the other side of the table from Hux. They had to keep up appearances. At exactly 9:30, the meeting started. 

_“Was he always this amazing?”_ Hux thought, enraptured with Ben. He was like a force of nature up there in front of the board.

“Mr. Solo,” one of the investors interrupted. “This idea of yours is good and fine for developing countries and such, but how will we market solar chargers to middle class, first world citizens which is, of course, our key demographic?”

Everyone held their collective breath. Interrupting Ben during a presentation was always a bad idea. But this time, he became quiet and pondered the question. This made everyone even more nervous.

“Consider for a moment,” Ben began. “the blizzard that hit a few months ago.”

Everyone remembered the blizzard. Especially Hux, but for different reasons. Most would remember it because of how it brought the entire city to a halt.

“It completely took out the power grid and shut down our entire city.” Ben continued. “It was declared a national emergency, if you recall. That should be a wake up call to all of us in the tech industry to how dependent we are on modern technology.” Ben looked over to Hux. “No matter how advanced we are, we’re all still at the mercy of Mother Nature.”

_“I didn’t even think he was listening then.”_

“If I may,” someone else interjected, this time to Hux. “What are the cost implications of this? Why not just cut out the middle man and produce a solar phone?” 

“Yes, Brendol. Please tell them.” Ben said. All eyes were on Hux now. 

“What you should ask, it what would be the cost implications on your average consumer to buy a completely new solar-powered phone when they could simply buy a charger instead. What would the cost implications be for Starkiller to produce these entirely new phones? The company that manufactures our product’s chargers will be much more likely to support Ben, Mr. Solo’s, idea as well. The cost implications for them are an increase in sales for these new chargers, as well as a hefty tax break for using alternate energy and creating new jobs. This is not even to mention the tax break Starkiller will get for this, as well as the good press of an environmentally friendly reputation.”

“Thank you, Brendol. Your input is always appreciated.”

The boardroom could not have been more shocked. Hux could tell they had been waiting for another legendary fight, but instead all they got was a very cordial interaction that actually served to propel the meeting. This was unheard of.

After the meeting, one of Starkiller’s long time investors approached Hux.

“I think that was the first time Ben Solo didn’t storm out of one of these meetings.”

“You may be right.”

“Man, he sure was on fire today. I’ve never seen him like that.”

“I think Ben has the potential to surprise people. There’s a lot to him that we don’t necessarily see right away.”

“You too, Hux.”

“Sorry?”

“You were great too. Both of you. You guys were like the dynamic duo in there! It was incredible!”

“I couldn’t agree more.” It was President Snoke.

“Mr. Hux, if the two of you can maintain the level teamwork you’ve displayed today then I see great things for the both of you. And for Starkiller.”

“Thank you, President Snoke.” He said, somewhat flustered.

When Hux left the boardroom, he was greeted by several of the accountants.

“We heard how you crushed it in there, Mr. Hux!”

“Yeah, good going!”

“Wouldn’t have expected any less from our department’s fearless leader!”

“Fearless Leader?”

Hux rather liked that.

Their eyes all widened and they looked behind Hux with a mixture of shock and fear. He turned around. Ben was approaching him.

“Hello, Ben.”

“Brendol.”

“I wanted to congratulate you on a job well done. I think our investors were quite convinced with your plans.”

“It’s only because I thought about the questions you always asked during these meetings. You’re always good with this kind of thing. So I learned from the best.”

“But it wasn’t just how well organized it was. You had a fire in you! It was infectious. You believed in it, so they did too.”

“I used to think that you were just kind of apathetic about this stuff, but you really went in for it today too Brendol. No one could ever say you didn’t care about this!”

“Well good, because I do!”

Ben’s entire expression changed. He looked down and then slowly looked up at Hux with realization. Hux stared into his eyes. He hadn’t realized until now, but his relationship with Ben had changed him. Considerably.

_“He makes me… better.”_

“Brendol. You make me better.” Ben said, baring the most wide-eyed, child-like smile he’d ever seen on a full grown man.

“You make me better!” Hux exclaimed, gripping Ben’s shoulders.

When they kissed, one could have heard a pin drop in the office. But Hux didn’t care. However, it was quiet enough that Hux heard disgruntled whispers after a few seconds.

“What did I tell you?” it was Jenkins.

“Screw you, Maureen!” another voice whispered.

“A bet is a bet. I told you guys!” It was Jenkins again.

“Fine, you win. Take it all!” yet another.

Hux opened his eyes, and from the corner he watched as several accountants opened their wallets and handed copious amounts of cash to Jenkins. Then, from his other side, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned and found himself face to face with none other than President Snoke. 

“Mr. Hux, Mr. Solo, please come by my office after lunch today.” He said, almost whispering before gliding away from them.


	18. CH 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some couples counseling feat. Mitaka. Later, Hux contemplates the aftermath of the meeting with Snoke and his own past....  
> Also... BENJAMIN.

Hux and Ben sat their overstuffed chairs and looked down at their respective folded hands. Only occasionally did they look up at each other. 

“So,” Hux began. “Did you have a good morning?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

“You?”

“The subway was late.”

“Really?”

“I left early. So it turned out alright in the end.”

“Oh.”

But no amount of awkward small talk could distract Hux from the reality of the situation. 

Starkiller did not have any existing policies barring consensual sexual relationships with co-workers. 

“But I want to keep this on the up-and-up, do you both understand me?” Snoke had said the afternoon before in his office.

“Of course. I understand entirely.” Hux had replied. Ben shrugged in silent agreement.

“That is why I am scheduling the two of you for bi-monthly couples counseling. I’m sure you both are acquainted with Dopheld Mitaka in Human Resources?”

“Of course, President Snoke. We are more than happy to cooperate.” Hux replied, ignoring death glares from Ben.

“Very well. Your first meeting is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Mr. Solo, would you mind? I need to speak to your colleague Mr. Hux in private...”

This is how Hux found himself sitting next to Ben in a tiny office covered wall to wall in motivational posters.

“And would you look at that? It’s my two favorite love birds, Brendol and _Benjamin_!!” Mitaka sang as he waltzed through the doorway.

“If you ever call me that name again, I will _destroy_ you.” 

“Woooooah!!!” Mitaka interjected, a toothy smile still plastered across his face. “Looks like someone hasn’t had their coffee yet!” 

“Benjamin?” Hux said, snickering? “Seriously—AGH!” Ben stretched his long leg over and stomped on Hux’s foot mercilessly.

“That’ll teach you.” Ben said, casting a withering look over to Hux.

“Christ! I think you broke my foot… Benjamin.”

“Alright, looks we’ve already got some things to work on.” Mitaka said, his smile faltering ever so slightly.

…………….

“Careful, Ben…” Hux said in a low voice.

“I’ll say it again. Don’t run your mouth on subjects that you’re completely ignorant about. What we’re talking about here is equivalent to a fucking war crime!” 

“Don’t you dare call me ignorant!”

“IGNORANT.”

“Say it again and I’ll gouge your eyes out right here and now.” Hux threatened in a calm voice, brandishing the delicate silver spoon from his gelato.

They both stopped when Ben’s phone began buzzing from between them at the table.

“Shit. Fifteen minutes already?” Ben groaned.

“Don’t worry, we can talk more about the environmental consequences of tall fescue grass later.”

“But arguing with you is so fun…” Ben whined.

“It’s Mitaka’s rules, not mine. We’re only allowed to argue fifteen minutes at a time.” 

“Man, fuck that guy. Total hack.”

“I think it might be good for us to have more civil conversations.”

“Of course you would say that.”

“Shall I start the timer again so we can discuss this?”

“No. Whatever… So, what did Snoke want to talk to you about?”

_Hux watched Ben walk out of Snoke’s office. The door clicked shut._

_“What are you doing?” Snoke asked him, not looking up from his typing._

_“Sir?”_

_“What are you trying to accomplish here? With this relationship?” He never looked up; his wrinkled face completely placid._

_Hux did not know how to respond to that. He enjoyed Ben’s company and despite their differences he liked Ben very much. He wasn’t trying to accomplish anything with their relationship. It just… was._

_“Do you think this is going to make all of your problems magically disappear?”_

_“I…”_

_“Why now after spending years alone?”_

_“Sir, I have always attempted to keep my personal affairs out of this office, but now that I am involved with a colleague…”_

_“You say ‘involved with a colleague’ as if to imply previous relationships. Please spare me. I am a perceptive man, and I am well aware that the… nature… of your previous ‘relationships’ was nothing like what you currently have with Mr. Solo.”_

_What was it with Starkiller and employing mind readers? Hux felt uncomfortable. He had to stop himself from inching from his chair towards the door._

_“Ben… Mr. Solo… is an eccentric, sometimes difficult man. But he is a very intelligent and rather interesting person. We are highly compatible on an intellectual level.”_

_“Really now…” Snoke mused to himself._

_“You remind me of myself when I was your age. You are intelligent, hard working and standing on the precipice of success beyond your wildest dreams. And yet, you feel something missing. You feel a certain emptiness inside you. It took me three failed marriages to realize that nothing can fill that emptiness. You should use that emptiness instead. It is what drives men like us to greatness. Embrace it. Be proud of it.”_

_Hux opened his mouth to counter Snoke’s assertion._

_“Are you about to tell me I’m wrong? Well then tell me; how much does Ben know about you and your past?”_

_Hux’s entire body went rigid. “I’ve already told him that I dropped out of High School.”_

_“But did you tell him why?”_

_President Snoke.” Hux interrupted louder than he meant to. “This conversation is becoming incredibly unprofessional. ”_

_“Forgive me, I only meant to give you some advice.”_

_“And I appreciate your concern.”_

_“You may leave.”_

_“Thank you, President Snoke.” Hux said standing up and heading for the door._

“He wanted to discuss some financial matters. Very tedious. I’ll spare you the details.”

“What do you say we get out of here?”

“Your place or mine?”

“Yours.”

“Let me guess, you still haven’t done the dishes yet?”

“Well, that and Millicent is the best!”

“That kitchen of yours is a disgrace.”

“Whatever.” Ben said laughing as he grabbed Hux’s hand.


	19. CH 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux lets his anxieties and worries get the best of him, putting a strain on his relationship with Ben. When crisis strikes, an unexpected friend steps in....  
> We've got some real angst here today.
> 
> CW- verbal abuse, homophobic slurs

Hux watched as the scene played out like a movie. The boy’s jaw was clenched shut and his eyes were rimmed with red, but they betrayed no emotion. He scarcely even blinked. He was slight of build with a freckled boyish face. His short red was slicked back.

 _“It’s me.”_ Hux thought absently, but it was him at 15.

His hard gaze was set on a closed black coffin. His fists clenched, digging his nails into his palms the way he always did when he was upset. A man appeared from nowhere next to him. He was tall and stocky with a rough looking face and worn, tired green eyes. He had a grey buzz cut with the faintest hint of red left in it.

_“I’m dreaming, aren’t I?”_

“What a place this world is for lonely men like us. Were we meant to live only to lose everything?” The man said in a flat voice.

“But I don’t want to be alone, dad. I like Ben. A lot.” Hux lowered his eyes and turned away to avoid shedding any tears in front of him.

“I know, Brendol. I know.” He said putting a hand on Hux’s shoulder.

Hux looked back at the unexpected tender gesture.

“That’s because you’re an idiot. You always put your emotions before everything.” He said shaking his head.

“That’s what I tried to tell him.” It was President Snoke on the other side of him. “For such a methodical lad, he really does let his emotions take over, doesn’t he?”

“Don’t even get me started. One time he got so worked up over some girl at school he spent a week holed up in his room, thinking I couldn’t hear him crying.”

Snoke raised his eyebrows in astonishment. “Really now? I expected better of you.” He scolded.

Hux sniffed and rubbed at his eyes.

“See?” His father said, exasperated. “There he goes again. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. I sure as hell didn’t raise him to be such a fucking faggot.” He huffed and furrowed his brow. A single prominent vein appeared on his forehead.

“And he really does suffer for it too. He doesn’t realize yet that he’ll drive everyone away for one reason or another. He judges himself so harshly and in return, he treats others in a similar manner.”

“But I like him. I really do. He makes me better.” Hux protested, his voice cracking. 

“No one could make you better. You’re just like me; broken inside.” 

“I do wonder why he’s so hard on himself…” Snoke added, staring pointedly at Hux’s father.

“What was I going to do? Let him keep failing over and over and over again? He needs to realize who he is.”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, dad…” Hux whispered in a quivering voice.

“When you’re in the field, one wrong move could mean someone getting killed! Sorry won’t bring someone back! Sorry is not good enough!” his father shouted.

“What’s in there?” Hux finally asked in a small voice, pointing at the black coffin. Just looking at it made his skin crawl, and weighed his soul down with a deep, foreboding feeling.

Snoke sighed. “You don’t realize yet? It’s your future, my child.”

Hux walked over and pulled the lid open very slowly.

Ben was in there, sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest the way he always did when he was upset with Hux, chewing at a pale gray lip. He looked up at Hux with cloudy, blank eyes.

“I can’t take it anymore, Brendol. The constant arguing, the judgment. I don’t know what made you like this, but I don’t care anymore. We’re through.” His voice was a mere ghostly whisper.

Hux woke up shaking. He was drenched in sweat and his chest was heaving. He looked over at Ben.

_“It was only a dream, Hux.”_

Ben stirred and moved closer to Hux in his sleep.

_“I can’t fucking breathe.”_

Quietly, Hux got dressed and ran down the street to a convenience store. Before he’d even left the store, he had already torn into the carton and was lighting up a cigarette. He inhaled deeply and it felt like the fizzing sensation in his blood was settling down.

_“Fuck, I missed that feeling.”_

He wasn’t quite ready to go back inside, so he sat down on the porch, nursing the last cigarette in the pack.

_“What am I going to do? Ben doesn’t deserve putting up with me. He doesn’t deserve that darkness.”_

He took another puff. 

“Brendol?!”

Hux looked up and dropped the cigarette before crushing it under his foot. Ben was standing in the doorway wearing a t-shirt and boxers. His expression was one of confusion, shock and disgust.

“Ben?” Was all Hux could manage.

“What the fuck are you doing out here?... Holy shit. Are you smoking?”

“No!” The lie was almost reflexive.

“What the hell is going on with you?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.” He grumbled.

“You don’t look fine to me.” Then, Ben’s hard gaze softened when he saw the tears in Hux’s eyes. Hux cursed himself silently and looked away. “Brendol. What’s wrong? You can tell me.”

“Ben…” He started, trying to find the words to articulate.

“I’m really messed up.”

“What are you talking about?”

“There’s a lot about me you don’t know.” He could hear his voice becoming thicker and thicker with the emotions he was trying so hard to suppress. “Ben, I’m broken.”

Ben furrowed his brow at Hux and wrapped his arms around his waist.

“Brendol… It’s okay. You’re gonna be fine. Come back inside.” Ben’s voice sounded tender, but he looked terrified. Even in his current state, Hux could tell that Ben was desperately trying to put on a brave calm face. It felt like a knife twisting inside his gut. Ben took Hux’s hand delicately and turned to lead him back inside. 

What happened next, Hux saw in slow motion. Millicent came racing from the back of the house and ran straight out of the door and went tearing off into the distance. Ben went after her for about 20 feet, but she was long gone. Hux stood on the porch, watching with a certain quality of numbness. Ben came sauntering back.

“Shit.” He muttered. “Sorry.”

A dark corner of Hux’s brain that he hadn’t used in awhile came to life. It was like an autopilot that took over him.

“How many times have I told you not to leave the door open?!”

Hurt flashed across Ben’s face before he put on a defensive air.

“Look, I said I was sorry…”

“Sorry is not good enough.” He hissed before brushing Ben aside and walking in through the door.

The next thirty minutes were a blur of calling animal shelters and anxiety mixed with cold numbness. Hux was terrified and Ben stood by listlessly, breathing down Hux’s neck. It was setting him more on edge than he already was. He wanted desperately to be alone, and the last person he wanted to be around at that moment was Ben.

“What do you want?” Hux demanded after ending the last call. 

“Should I make posters or something?” Ben offered in an infuriatingly timid voice.

“She has a microchip. They’ll call us when they find her.” He said, glaring at Ben. “If they find her…” He added, lowering his gaze.

 _“What if she gets hurt out there? What if…”_

“You’ve been pacing around sighing and it’s starting to get on my nerves. You’re a nervous wreck. Cut it out.” Ben said sounding put out.

“And just when I thought you couldn’t get any more helpful.” Hux clipped.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It’s supposed to mean that this is all your fault! You’re the one who left the door open!” Hux shouted.

“Maybe I wouldn’t have left the door open if you hadn’t decided to fucking lose it earlier!”

“Excuse me?!!!”

“So we’re not going to talk about what happened?!!!”

“There’s nothing to talk about!!!!!” Hux felt his anger rising.

“I find you outside at seven in the morning on the tail end of a carton of cigarettes, practically in tears and you think that’s nothing to talk about?! What the hell is going on with you?!!!”

“Excuse me for being a little focused on the fact that Millicent has run off. I think you’re avoiding the real issue at hand because you’re trying to take focus off of the fact that it is ALL. YOUR. FAULT!” Hux stood up abruptly from the couch and paced to a corner and clutched his head for dear life. His brain felt like it was going to explode. He needed to be alone. Ben wasn’t done with Hux yet and followed him into the hallway and grabbed him by the wrist, whirling him around face to face. 

“Get over it, Brendol! It’s a cat! She’ll either come back or not. In the meantime, we’re going to have a serious fucking talk right now. I don’t care how distraught or upset or whatever the fuck you are about your stupid cat, we are doing this now!! Are you even fucking listening to me??!!!”

Then, Hux snapped.

“GET OUT.”

“What?”

“GET THE FUCK OUT!!!”

He regretted the words before they even came out of his mouth. But the worst part was the look on Ben’s face. There was no hurt in it; no anger or pain. His face was completely blank.

“You want me gone? Fine. I’m gone.”

Hux turned away and when he heard the door slam behind Ben, he sank to the floor. 

………… 

“Hey, baby…” 

She was naked, and still soaking from the shower as she walked over and put her arms around the the other woman. The other woman was tall and incredibly well-built with close-cropped blonde hair. She was sitting on the bed lacing up a pair of boots.

“Morning, sugar. Careful or you’ll get me all wet.”

The nude girl giggled. “Like last night, Phaz?”

Phaz laughed in response.

“Go get dressed or you’ll miss your flight!” she said kissing the other woman on the nose. 

“Okay, okay… Just think; this afternoon I’ll be in Miami!”

Phasma’s phone buzzed. She looked at the text. 

“EMERGENCY. COME OVER NOW.” 

“Hey honey? You’re gonna need to get a cab.” Phaz said, jumping up from the bed and grabbing her purse and fishing the keys out of it. 

“What?! I thought you said you could drive me!” 

“I’m sorry, something came up.” She said before sprinting from the room. She ran outside and rushed into her car and drove away.

“I’m coming, Hux.” She said to herself as she sped down the highway.


	20. CH 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux gets in his feelings when he catches up with an old friend. But will he be able to fix things with Ben and find Millicent? There's some angst, you've been warned!
> 
> CW- for implied suicide.

Hux was laying face down on the floor. He was not sure how long it had been. It could have been a few minutes or a few hours.

_“I’ve fucked everything up.”_

He heard banging at the door. Hux ignored it.

“Hux, open up right now! It’s me, Phaz!”

“It’s unlocked.” He said, his voice muffled by the floor.

Phaz burst through the door and rushed to Hux’s side.

“Holy shit! Are you alright?!” she shouted, turning him over and shaking him.

“I’m fine.” He said, smacking her hands away.

“Are you hurt?”

“Not physically.” He responded in a feeble voice.

“Shit, Hux. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you. I almost called the fucking police! Don’t play games with me like that.” She said, her anger turning to concern.

“Sorry…”

She huffed out a breath and rolled her eyes and adjusted to a more comfortable seating position on the floor.

“Did you drink anything today?”

“No.”

“Eat anything?”

“I smoked an entire pack of cigarettes.” He offered.

Phaz sighed and swore to herself. She pinched the bridge of her nose and then looked back up at Hux with a stern expression.

“We can talk later. But first, I’m getting some food in you.”

“Millicent’s gone!” He blurted out.

Phaz eyes widened. “Shit… I’m so sorry, Hux.”

“I can’t stand it, thinking of her out there all alone…”

“Did you call the local shelter?”

“I called every animal shelter in a 25 mile radius…”

“Well, if she’s got a microchip they’ll find her and call you. Nothing else you can do now but wait. No reason to starve yourself in the meantime.” Phaz said, walking over to the kitchen. Hux heard the clattering of pots and pans and the sound of the kettle turning on. He lay on the floor for a few minutes longer, before ambling over to the kitchen bar and sitting down silently.

“I saw Misty the other day, you know. Sugar and cream?” 

“Just cream.” Hux replied, to which Phaz cocked one eyebrow.

“Let me show you something.” She said, setting a cup of tea in front of him and pulling out her phone.

“Look at these kids!” Phaz showed him a photo of a slender dark haired woman and three toothy, unibrowed teenagers.

Hux cracked a small smile. “They look just like Tim.”

“I know.” Phaz replied. She smiled back, but her eyes were sad. “Misty asked about you, you know. She’d really love for you to visit some time.”

“I’ve been meaning to.” 

“Bullshit.”

“You’re right.” Hux admitted. “I just can’t bring myself to do it.”

“We all miss Tim, Hux.”

“I just can’t forget the look on his face the last time I saw him. Still can’t get it out of my head.”

Hux shook his head and ran a head through his hair. 

“I should be over it by now. I feel like an idiot.”

“Hux, you were the one who found him. It’s a little different for you. And you’ve been through a lot. I’m sure Misty gets that.”

“I thought therapy was supposed to fix all this.” 

“Therapy just makes it more bearable. It can’t fix everything.”

“I should just suck it up.”

“Right now, you should eat.” Phaz said shoving a plate of scrambled eggs at him. He felt nauseous, but once after choking down the first bite he realized that he was starving.

“I’ve missed you.” 

“I’m glad I’m not alone right now, Phaz.” He responded in between bites.

“You’re welcome. Gina’s pissed at me, though. I was supposed to drive her to the airport today.”

“Gina?”

“Oh, I don’t think I told you about Gina. We’ve been dating for a couple months now.”

Hux raised his mug to her and nodded in congratulatory approval.

“We met a jazz club about three blocks from here, actually.” She explained.

“You’re still playing then?” 

“Hell yeah I’m still playing! I’d like to say I only do it for love of the music, but do you know how many times that sax has gotten me laid?”

“True.”

“And are you still not singing?” She asked pointedly.

“Please. I was never that good anyway.”

“Shut up. You were incredible.”

“I don’t need your useless flattery, Phaz. We all know I was the weak link where talent was concerned.”

“Aw man, those were some good times.” Phaz said, chuckling to herself.

Hux’s phone buzzed, causing him to practically fall out of his chair. He snatched it and answered.

“Hello?!”

“Congratulations! You’ve won a free cruise to…”

“FUCK!!!” He yelled before hanging up and slamming his phone onto the counter.

“What’s wrong?”

“Telemarketers…”

“Calm down. It’s gonna be okay.” Phaz said, trying to reassure him.

“I don’t know what I’d do without her, Phaz. I don’t know if I’d even be here right now without her…”

“Don’t say that, Hux.” Her face was serious. “Millicent didn’t fix you. You’ve always had the tools to fix yourself inside you. Millie just helped you find them.” 

Thunder rolled in the distance, making Hux jump.

“She’s so scared of storms. She’ll be terrified out there alone.”

Hux’s phone went off again. He looked at the screen. Ben was calling him. He angrily declined the call and set the phone back down.

“Who was it?”

“No one.”

“Whatever.”

The phone rang again. Hux saw Ben’s name and turned it screen down.

“Phaz, am I broken?”

“Jesus, Hux! What kind of question is that?”

“Just answer me. I’m an expert self-saboteur married to his job who lives alone with a cat! I run off every person who ever cared about me.”

“You didn’t run Tim off. You didn’t run off Joey. Those guys loved us, and we loved them. They were our friends.”

“I’m talking about the ones who are still alive.”

“Where is all this coming from?”

“Do you think I’m broken? After all the shit I’ve gone through?” 

“Of course you are. So am I. All of us are broken a little bit. Doesn’t mean you’re any less worthy of love.” 

Hux ignored the sound of his phone. 

“You’re a good friend, Phaz.”

“It’s nothing you wouldn’t do for me. Nothing you haven’t done for me one time or another.”

“Of course.”

“Who’s Ben?”

“What?” Hux looked up and realized Phaz was holding his phone.

“Give that back right this instant!” he demanded.

“It says you’ve got a text from Ben Solo.”

“’Brendol. Pick up your fucking phone.’” She read aloud without any inflection.

Hux growled in irritation; his face turning the same color as his hair.

Phaz smirked. “I knew it.”

“What?”

“I’m just saying that if I ever called you Brendol you might kill me. You don’t let anyone call you Brendol.”

“Shut up.”

“I knew it was weird when you didn’t want any sugar in your tea this morning after all these years!” She said as if making some world-changing discovery.

“He’s just some guy from the office.” 

_“Liar.”_

He couldn’t believe he’d just lied to Phaz, but this was a topic that he did not want to get into at the moment. Things were complicated enough already.

“He’s _that_ Ben Solo then?”

“Can we talk about literally anything else?”

“He’s that weird guy! The one who wears the same thing all the time and yells at people?”

“Would you please shut up?”

“I’ll admit, he’s not that bad looking. The all black thing is a little creepy, though. Is he, like, super weird in the bedroom? I just kind of get that vibe.”

There was a flash of lighting followed by loud booming thunder. Hux’s shoulders tensed.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.”

“We just hooked up a couple of times. It’s not a big deal.”

_“Liar.”_

“If you say so.”

The phone rang. It was Ben again.

“Could you take this from me so I don’t throw it out the window?” He asked handing it to Phaz.

“Sure thing.”

A torrential downpour began.

“Oh God…” Hux moaned, clutching his head.

“What it is?” Phaz asked, sounding urgent.

“My poor Millie… She’s out there all alone.”

“It’s going to be fine.” Phaz said, walking from around the counter to comfort Hux. 

“You’re going to be fine.” She continued, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I was supposed to take care of her and somehow I managed to even fuck that up!”

“That’s not true. These kinds of things happen.”

“I was never meant to have the love of another living being. I don’t deserve it. I’m just a fuck-up...”

“Hey. That’s some really scary fucking talk. You’re out of control and you need to cut it out.”

“…And now Ben’s gone too.”

“Woah, what?”

“Yes! I’ve managed to drive off possibly two of the best things to ever happen to me in one day!” He was getting more and more upset.

“I thought you said you two just banged a couple of times!”

“Well I lied! We’ve been together since January!” He admitted, looking away from Phaz.

“Shit. I’m really sorry, Hux.”

“And now he’s gone. Just like everyone else.” He laughed bitterly. “How fucked up is that? The few people in this world that don’t push me away, I push them away myself in some misguided sense of self-preservation.”

“You haven’t pushed me away.”

“God knows I’ve tried. Shit, Phaz. Why do I always do this to myself?” Hux felt completely lost. He became aware that at some point he’d stood up and began pacing. 

“You don’t have to.” She said. He stopped, and looked at her. His eyes were red and swollen.

“You want to know the really fucked up part? I love him. I love him so fucking much.” 

“Have you told him that?”

“Hell no. How could he ever love someone like me? I’m barely even human; empty inside.”

“You don’t sound like someone who’s empty inside to me.”

He looked at her, silently ordering himself not to cry.

“You sound pretty fucking human to me.”

Just then, a bang on the door interrupted them. 

“You sit tight. I’ll get that.” Phaz said to him.

He went over to the couch and plopped down. With a sharp pang, he realized that Millicent would not be rushing over to him like she usually did.

“Hux? I think you need to come here.” Phaz said, sounding urgent. Hux rushed to the doorway and froze. It was as if his brain had stopped working.

Ben looked like a drowned rat. His dark hair was plastered to his face and his clothes had been soaked through. His lips were blue and his face was set in a solemn expression, but his wide brown eyes looked a bit nervous. He was holding a dripping wet Millicent, who had somehow managed to look even more pitiful than Ben did. Ben did not say anything. Neither did Hux. Slowly and gently, he handed Millicent over to Hux. She looked at him and let out a miserable keening sound. He pulled her close and buried his face in her soggy fur.

 _“You’re okay, sweet girl... You’re okay now.”_

Hux began shaking. Still holding her close to his chest, he looked back up at Ben. The dam broke, and tears began streaming down Hux’s face.

“Thank you…” Hux managed to get out, grinning broadly despite his tears.

“Look,” Ben started. He looked terrified at this outburst of emotion “I’m so sorry. I said some really insensitive things earlier and I’m the one who…”

“What the hell are you talking about?! I’m the one who was a total asshole!”

“That doesn’t matter!” Ben said. He paused for a moment. “I was worried about you.” He said quieter.

“I thought you’d left for good.” Hux responded, taking a step towards Ben. He was still crying.

“I could never do that.” 

“I love you, Ben.” He whispered. 

Ben’s eyes widened. 

_“I had to get that off my chest. I don’t care what he thinks of me for it.”_

“I love you too.” He said rolling his eyes and giving Hux a crooked smile. 

_“Didn’t we both already know this?”_ The look seemed to say.

“Can I come inside?” Ben asked?

“Oh, of course.” Hux said, feeling embarrassed. Ben closed the door behind him and Hux set down Millicent, who immediately began shaking herself dry. Hux walked over to Ben.

“So, you love me, huh?” Ben said, still smiling. Somehow, even looking like he’d just survived a shipwreck Ben still looked adorable.

Hux wrapped his arms around Ben’s waist. 

“Yes, you idiot.” He responded, the tears beginning anew. Ben placed his hands tenderly on Hux’s face and kissed him over and over on his eyelids. It felt like the world had stopped for this one moment. Hux never wanted it to end.

“I’m Phaz, by the way.”

They both froze and looked over at Phaz. She was still standing next to the door.

“Hi, Phaz. I’m Ben.” Ben said.

“I’ll get lost. Just take care of yourself, Hux.”

“Hey Phaz.” Hux said.

“Yeah?”

“I love you too.”

“Aww, thanks.”

“We should get lunch next week.” He added.

“Totally.” She gave the two of them the peace sign and walked into the rain.

“Ben… I… About earlier…”

“We can talk later. It’s okay.” He said, kissing Hux again. 

Once the three of them were bathed and dried and snuggled up in bed together listening to the rain fall, Hux got a text from Phaz.

“you ok?”

“feeling better. How’s Gina?”

“called her earlier. We’re good now.”

“Thanks for earlier. You’re a good friend.”

“Brendol Hux, you are one lucky bastard. Don’t you dare doubt for a moment that you are very loved.”

“Hey…” Ben said in a half-asleep voice. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I love that I get to say that to you finally.”

“I do too…” Hux responded before he drifted off to sleep, his heart feeling warm and full.


	21. CH 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's vacation time!!!  
> Also, Leia is a beautiful, precious troll.

Hux still wasn’t quite sure how he found himself at the airport. Not sure why he was being handed a boarding pass, or checking luggage. Surely this was a strange dream in which he and Ben were walking to a departure gate. But it was not a dream. It was very real.

Brendol Hux and Ben Solo were going on vacation together.

It wasn’t exactly a vacation, to be honest. Ben was being sent to Los Angeles on behalf of Starkiller for several different events over the span of a week. Hux was tagging along.

“You should come with me.” Ben had said to him as they were lying in bed two days ago.

“Are you serious?” Hux hadn’t expected this.

“I mean, I hate going on these stupid trips. Maybe if you came with me it would be almost bearable. And we all know you’ve got, like, several years worth of vacation days saved up.”

“Ben, if you want me to go on vacation with you, all you had to do was say so.” Hux had replied smirking and running his fingers through Ben’s hair.

“You should meet my mom.” Ben blurted.

Hux was taken aback. Families were a difficult spot with him in all relationships; his family and the other person’s family as well.

“Really?” he finally decided on as a response.

“Why not?”

 _“You love him, Hux. If you want this to last you have to at least meet his family. It can’t be too bad…”_

“Sure.”

For two days, Hux tried desperately to get information from Ben on the nature of his family: How much did they know about their relationship? How did they feel about it? What exactly were they like?

“There’s some things that you can’t describe; you just have to see.” Was his maddening response.

They were sitting in the departure gate, waiting for their flight (which had just been delayed 2 more hours). Ben had been pacing and muttering to himself and telling a terrified flight attendant that he was going to sue their entire airline, but eventually he wore himself out. Now, he was fast asleep. Hux could feel Ben’s slow, steady breath on his shoulder. Hux still couldn’t quite believe that he was going on vacation; and one to California at that. 

_“I really do need this.”_

After his semi-break down the week before, he realized he needed some time away from work. More specifically, he needed more time with Ben. Mitaka had been ecstatic to hear that they were not only going to go on vacation together, but that they would also be meeting Ben’s family and friends as a couple. When President Snoke had been hesitant to give Hux the vacation days on such short notice, Mitaka had vouched for them most enthusiastically.

But what was he getting himself into? He knew some tiny bits of information about his less than conventional family history? What was it going to be like meeting these dysfunctional people? And what about Ben’s mysterious and tight knit group of friends? Hux tried not to worry too much about this and focus on some light reading (about the use of algorithms in the stock market.) His phone pinged from inside his pocket. When he pulled it out, his phone alerted him that someone had just messaged him. He had to reread the name a couple of times to be sure he wasn’t seeing things.

“Hello, Hux.   
I know I’m not supposed to call you Brendol because Ben told me that he only calls you that to annoy you. I have heard so much about you and am looking forward to meeting you in person. I would like take this time to apologize for the amount of fresh hell my disagreeable son has undoubtedly put you through in the past years that you have known him. 

This should begin to make things right.

Sincerely,

Leia Organa.”

Hux scrolled further to look at the photo that had been attached to the message. He had to stifle a laugh to avoid waking up Ben.

“Thank you. I look forward to meeting you as well.” He replied quickly before taking more time to savor the precious gift he’d just been sent. 

_“I’m beginning to like her already…”_

He saved the image and changed it to his phone’s background.

_“It really is perfect.”_

He felt Ben’s breathing quicken as he woke up and stretched.

“What time is it?” Ben asked in a bleary voice. He rubbed his eyes and then began shuffling around in his back for his phone.

“Here. Check on mine.” Hux offered promptly.

Ben’s eyes widened on the screen, mouth gaping.

“Where… where did you get this?”

“Oh please, Ben.” Hux replied with a grin. “You can find anything on the internet.”

Ben’s face turned a dark shade of crimson.

“Erase it. Now.” He whispered in a dire voice.

“I don’t think I will. I rather like it, you see.” He responded, snatching his phone away from Ben.

“I hate you…” 

“I love you too.” He said, looking at his new phone background. 

It was Ben. He couldn’t have been older than 14 or 15. He scowled at the camera from behind his headgear braces, and fringe bangs. Ben, along with the two other teens on either side of him were wearing heavy black eyeliner. The three of them looked as though they were in the death roes of a truly legendary awkward phase. The fake swords did not help either.

Ben glared at him from his seat before turning back around in a huff. 

Hux knew deep down that Ben had not changed one bit since this picture was taken.

_“The crazy part is, this only makes me love him more.”_


	22. CH 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in forever. Take this smut feat. The Red Handcuffs.

Fortunately, nothing had been planned for the day of Ben’s arrival. Otherwise, they would have had to cancel it. It was almost evening by the time they got to their hotel.

“Quit it.” Hux said from the passenger seat of their rental car; a black BMW convertible.

“Quit what?” Ben asked, his eyes trained on the road outside.

“Moping.”

“Well excuse me for being pissed off at spending all day at a fucking airport and then having to dick around in traffic. I hate this shit…”

“I’ve decided to be thankful we made it alive instead of ruminate on what’s already happened.”

“Whatever. We’re here.”

The moment Hux opened the door to their room, Ben raced inside and flopped down on the bed letting out a loud and dramatic groan.

“Well, at least this room is okay.” He commented, looking around the five-star hotel room.

“More than okay, I might add.” Hux replied, taking out his phone.

“Who are you texting?” Ben asked, looking over.

“Phaz wanted to know if we made it okay… And I’m also checking in with Rachel.”

“I’m sure Millicent’s fine, Brendol. Now get over here and feel the sweet embrace of this mattress.”

“You’re right… It’s not bad.” He said turning to face Ben. “Do you want to go grab some dinner?”

“Nah. Not hungry yet.”

“Well, we don’t have anything better to do.”

“I’ve got some ideas.” Ben said, flashing a devilish grin.

“Really now?”

Ben responded by walking over to his suitcase and rummaging around in it before finding what he was looking for. The item Ben produced made Hux instantly start to get hard.

_“Those fucking red handcuffs.”_

Lewd and enticing images from that night months ago flooded into his mind. His mouth felt dry.

“Are… are you sure?” he asked, remembering how things had ended last time despite his current state of debilitating arousal.

“Definitely.” He responded, advancing on Hux, before wrapping him in his strong, slender arms. “Do you want this?” He murmured into Hux’s neck. 

“Only if you do.” He gasped back. Ben pulled away, taking one of Hux’s hands and caressing it before slowly bringing it to his lips. His dark eyes were burning with desire, and they never broke eye contact with Hux’s.

“I’d do anything for you, Brendol.” He whispered before placing a tender kiss on Hux’s hand.

_“Fuck! Does he have any idea what he does to me?”_

“I’m yours…” He said, kissing Hux’s hand again. It felt like his brain was vibrating.

“Then show me.” 

Ben still did not look away. He put both of his hands on Hux’s chest and sank into him slowly. Hux reached his hands under Ben’s shirt, pulling it up over his head. Hux ran his fingers over Ben’s belt before unbuckling it and sliding it out at a glacial pace. He enjoyed watching Ben’s reaction to this. There was something akin to hunger in his eyes, and he licked his plush, shapely lips as he watched Hux undress him. Hux dropped the belt on the floor as Ben stepped out of his pants and boxers. He sank to his knees in front of Hux and with deft haste undid his belt and zipper before pulling out his engorged member. Hux breathed in sharply at Ben’s touch.

The way he was refusing to break eye contact with Hux even as he took him entirely in his mouth would have been unnerving if it wasn’t so damn hot. 

“Have I sufficiently shown you?” 

_“Damn him…”_

How could he still catch Hux off guard like this?

“Get up.” He responded.

Hux kissed Ben with passionate ferocity, pushing him onto the bed before grabbing his wrist and handcuffing it to the bedpost. He pushed himself off of Ben, inspecting the disheveled naked man on his bed. Ben looked up at him, smug. Hux may have been the one in charge, but it felt like Ben was the one undoing him. 

“I’ll wipe that smirk off of your face.” Hux growled, putting on a show as he retrieved a bottle of lube from his suitcase.

Excitement glimmered in Ben’s dark eyes. 

“Oh really now…”

…………………..

“Oh God, Brendol… Please!!”

“What’s that, now? I thought we had nothing better to do.” Hux responded innocently.

Ben was absolutely wrecked. For the past 30 minutes, Hux had been stroking the underside of Ben’s length with no more than the lightest touch of his lube covered finger. He slicked up and down his engorged cock, weeping with precum. 

“This… This is too cruel! Just quit it already!” he begged in a breathy voice. Hux did not increase his speed or pressure. Hux laughed quietly, looking into Ben’s pleading eyes.

“If you want me to quit, all you have to do is use the safe word.”

The conflict was easy to read in Ben’s features as his eyes darted back in forth, summoning what little brainpower and reasoning hadn’t been high jacked by primal lust. 

“Could it be that you… like this? That you like being denied; reduced to begging for my touch?” 

Ben blushed. He worried his plush bottom lip between his teeth.

“I asked you a question, Ben.” Hux said with a stern tone.

He nodded, blushing even more.

Hux closed his entire hand around Ben’s length, gripping for the first time in the half hour. Ben’s face blossomed with ecstasy. He moaned out loud, thrusting along with Hux’s motion.

“That’s a good boy.” Hux murmured into Ben’s ear before licking the shell. He watched with pleasure as Ben’s movements became more and more frantic.

“But I didn’t say you could come yet.”

Ben practically screamed when Hux let go.

“Don’t do that, now. I don’t think these walls are soundproof.”

“Please, Brendol… Pleeeeeease!”

“If you don’t calm down I might have to punish you. You do want to come tonight, don’t you?”

“That certainly shut him up.”

“Now why can’t you always be this cooperative?” Hux asked, resuming ghosting his slick fingertips over Ben’s cock. 

“Maybe I’ll never let you come.”

He watched as panic seized Ben.

“You’d save me a lot of trouble this way… Save me a lot of time and energy.” He said, reaching up to stroke Ben’s hair. 

“So docile… So compliant…” he whispered. Ben’s eyes were glazing over, his pupils blown out with lust. Hux wasn’t entirely sure Ben could hear him at this point.

“Everyone is so afraid of you… They think you’re so powerful… What if they could see the way I can bend you to my will like this? What if they could see how much you love being controlled by me?”

Ben was shaking.

_“Oh dear God, he’s only getting harder.”_

Even after last time, it was somewhat of a shock to Hux how much Ben got off on being berated like this. 

“Tell you what.” Hux began, slicking up his own cock before lining it up at the other man’s entrance.

“You can come once I do.” He said before slipping inside and setting a maddeningly slow and soft pace. It was just enough to keep Ben on the edge but not enough to push him over it.

“I plan on taking awhile, though.”

Ben turned around, looking betrayed.

“You’re fucking sick, Brendol.”

“Then use the safe word.” He responded, calling Ben’s bluff.

“Damn, you feel so good.” Hux growled. He sped up, getting lost in the pleasure. He grabbed Ben’s cock and began thrusting even faster. 

“Fuck, Ben!” he grunted before tipping over the edge. Ben started coming the second Hux did. Together they both rode out their extremely intense but very satisfying orgasms.

Hux undid the handcuffs and buried his face into the crook of Ben’s shoulder, breathing him in. Ben lay his newly freed arm over Hux protectively.

“That was fun.” Ben said with breathless laughter in his voice.

“That was _very_ fun.” Hux agreed. They snuggled together on the bed, Hux reaching up and idly playing with Ben’s hair.

“You hungry?” 

“Room service?” Ben suggested in response.

“Room service.” Hux agreed.

“I’m excited about tomorrow.”

“Why?” 

“Why? Well I’ve never been on one of these trips with you before. I’ve never really gotten to see what you do. And I am very interested to meet your family and friends.”

“Don’t be. They all suck.”

Hux snickered.

“It’s true. I don’t get why you’re so excited to meet my lame- ass friends and watch me talk about computers to a bunch of goddamn 1st graders. You’re gonna be disappointed.”

“I could actually not be more excited to watch you talk about computers with a bunch of 1st graders.”

The idea of Ben speaking to children (or interacting with them in any capacity) was comical to Hux. He wondered how he was with children…


	23. CH 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben vs. Children.
> 
> Ben and Hux visit an elementary school and go to Leia's for dinner.
> 
> And who are The Knights of Ren?

The voices of the schoolchildren were like ocean waves. The din was constant, but every once in a while, excited shrieks of laughter would ebb into existence; disappearing just as soon as they came. Every time one of these waves happened, Hux saw Ben’s eye twitch again. It was the tensest Hux had ever seen him.

“They’re not even real people!” Ben exclaimed the night before over room service. “They don’t act like people. Not at all!”

“You mean they’re unpredictable.” 

“Precisely.” 

“You’re just mad you can’t predict them. They’re the only demographic you are truly in the dark about. They’re the only things you can’t read.” Hux smirked.

Ben fumed.

It was true he looked out of place. Ben seemed a great black shadow, looming over the tiny desks, brightly colored posters and scurrying children, arguing fervently with two or three of them about God-knows-what. 

“First of all, this would cost billions…” Ben said, jabbing a finger into the center of a piece of construction paper. The group of children looked up at him wide-eyed.

“And the design is a complete mess! Where’s the engine supposed to be on this thing?”

The children were silent.

“Faith? Ernesto? Mercedes? Anyone?” He asked, staring the two down.

The children shrugged. 

“Didn’t think so. It’s evident you didn’t think anything through. And another question I’m really interested in getting an answer to: Why is it pink?”

“It’s my favorite color!” one of them piped up.

“It’s a complete waste of funding, Mercedes !” Ben responded. “Your priorities are completely off. Figure out the essentials, then start painting unicorns on it or whatever!” 

Hux decided it was time to make an entrance. 

“What’s going on over here?” He asked.

“See for yourself.” Ben said handing over the construction paper.

There was nothing wrong with the drawing. It looked like any other drawing six-year-olds might make of a rocket ship.

“Well I like it.” He said, crouching down at the desk and smiling.

“Who are you supposed to be?” one of them asked, raising an eyebrow at Hux.” Hux felt slightly taken aback. 

“This is my friend Mr. Brendol.” Ben responded.

“That’s a weird name!” A little girl giggled.

Hux glared at Ben. 

“Well,” Hux continued. “I think a pink rocket ship is a great idea!”

“Mr. Ben says it would be a massive waste of money and probably explode before we even turned it on, much less ever make it to Saturn.” The little boy explained.

“Saturn, Brendol! Why?!” Ben started, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “How would you even land? Saturn doesn’t even have a solid…”

“Let me tell you all something.” Hux interrupted, giving the children back their drawing. 

“Starkiller could really use kids like you. We hire people with dreams; creative people.” He looked at Ben. “People who don’t let anyone tell them that they should give up on something.”

“We know that!” The little girl said, smiling.

Ben rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t telling them they should give up… Mr. Brendol.” He looked back at the children. 

“Trust me. In twenty years, Starkiller will definitely have a place for all of you.” His expression turned serious. “That should be plenty of time to fix all these glaring issues.”

“Thanks, Mr. Ben!” The kids all yelled, grinning.

_“How does someone who hates children have a group of elementary schoolers calling them ‘Mr. Ben’ after ten minutes in a classroom?”_

“What are you thanking me for?” Ben muttered.

“Mr. Brendol, are you and Mr. Solo gonna get married?” Mercedes asked. Hux could feel his face turning crimson. He stuttered, trying to find a response. Ben looked highly amused.

“I… Well… L-like Ben said... Mr. Solo told you… I’m Mr. Solo’s friend, Mercedes… I… We’re… I couldn’t… You see… I… Well…”

“It’s okay, my Daddies used to tell everyone they were friends too!” she responded cheerily. Hux was at a loss for words.

“What, don’t you want to get married?” Ben asked teasingly. “What do you think guys, should I marry Mr. Brendol?” He gestured at Hux towards the children.

“Yeah!” They all cheered.

Suddenly, the sound of a ringing cowbell rang through the classroom. All talking stopped dead. Hux was thankful for that. Any more and he might have started hating children too.

“Alright, children!” The teacher, a small elderly woman began. “This is Ben Solo! You may have heard of him before. He works at a company called Starkiller. How many of you or your families have a Starkiller computer or a Starkiller phone?” Just about everyone raised their hand. 

“Today, Mr. Solo is going to tell us all about computers! Everyone be respectful!” 

Hux stood back as Ben went to the front of the classroom and stood next to the teacher.

“Now Mr. Solo, would you start off by telling us all about the importance of online safety?” she asked.

Ben was silent for a moment as he pondered this request. 

“Online safety….” He murmured, tenting his fingers and furrowing his brow. He looked up suddenly.

“’Online safety’”, he said using finger quotations. “is a myth. None of us are safe. Ever. Especially not online. Do you have any idea the kind of things you can find on the internet? It’s a dark place, kids. Have any of you even heard of 4chan? Who am I kidding? You were all born after 2000 of course you’ve heard of 4chan…” 

The teacher was getting paler and paler by the second. Hux wondered if he should stop Ben. No. It was the school’s fault if they didn’t know what they were getting into letting Ben Solo talk to a group of children. He’d started pacing. Things would only get worse from here. A boy in the back took out his phone and started filming. 

“And don’t get me started on our own government, the supposed ‘good guys’. The height of technology at their fingertips and all they do with it is spy on us and sell our information to companies too lazy to find it for themselves. I’m assigning you all homework, okay? When you get home tonight, go to your computer and but a nice big piece of duct tape over the camera. Only take it off when you’re actually using it. Can you all do that? Great. Okay. Now raise your hand if you know who Edward Snowden is…”

 _“Oh boy…”_ Hux felt a migraine coming on.

…..

“You ready?” Ben asked Hux.

“Yes.” Hux said. The potted peace lily he was holding was starting to get heavier.

“You sure?” 

They were standing on the welcome mat of Leia Organa’s house. It was a modest sized house with a rather inspired desert scape for a garden.

“Too late to back out now, Ben. Just open the damn door.”

“If you insist.” But before Ben could take the door knob, it twisted open by itself. The door flung open. 

All the TV spots and CSPAN recordings did not do Leia Organa justice. She was a woman of great beauty.

“Now I know who Ben got that face from.” 

Her silver hair was in a low braid and she wore a bold patterned sundress. She had the unshakeable glamorous air of a woman who could pull off any shade of red lipstick and murder you while doing it. Hux could only imagine how stunning she must have been in her youth.

“Hello… ma’am.” He stammered.

 _“Ma’am? What the fuck, Brendol?”_ something about her inspired terrified formality. 

“My boy…” she said, throwing her arms around Ben and standing on her toes to kiss him on the forehead. Ben leaned over to help her reach him.

“My prodigal son, how good it is to see you after all this time! I thought I’d never again in this life see the face of my only son!”

“Jeez mom, I get the hint! I’ll come visit you more often!” He said, shrinking away as she pinched his cheek. Then, she turned to Hux. He froze.

“You must be Hux!” She said, squeezing him in a tight embrace. “You don’t know how happy I am to finally meet you! I thought my poor boy would be alone forever.”

“MOM.”

“Likewise, Ms. Organa.” Hux responded, laughing. 

She took the peace lily from him.

“Oh please, call me Leia. Now come inside, you two!” She urged.

The inside of the house was tidy and eclectically decorated. It had a welcoming glow to it. Something about this seemed familiar. Hux stifled a laugh.

“These are beautiful lamps, Leia.”

“Well you know what they say about central lighting.”

“It gives you brain damage?” he ventured.

“I knew I’d like you!” She ruffled his hair good-naturedly and set the peace lily down next to a vintage mid-century sofa.

“There we go. This looks lovely. Thank you, Hux.”

“Hey! How do you know it wasn’t my idea?” Ben grumbled.

“Because we both know there’s no way in hell it was.” Leia replied.

Ben shrugged.

“Now why don’t you two sit in the kitchen? I was just about to start dinner.”

She poured three glasses of wine.

“Ben, dear? Will you give me a hand in the kitchen?”

“Sure.”

“Oh really? I finally get you to cook for me?” Hux asked, incredulous. Incredulous, but intrigued.

“You never let me near your kitchen! It’s not like I haven’t tried.”

“Ramen is not trying, Ben.”

“Ramen, Benjamin? Really?” Leia asked before taking a sip of wine.

“Don’t judge me, mom!”

Leia looked at Hux. 

“He’s actually not bad. You should give him a chance.”

“I am thrilled for this opportunity.” Hux said, chuckling.

“Don’t get your hopes up.” 

Ben sauntered to the kitchen and Leia got up to help him.

“So, Hux.” Leia began, chopping some carrots while Ben rummaged around in the cabinets. “How much has Ben told you about _The Knights of Ren_?”

“MOM.” Ben’s face turned crimson.

“ _The Knights of Ren_? Oh, I don’t think he’s told me anything.”

“Don’t you dare!” There was true desperation in Ben’s eyes.

“Tell me everything!”

Leia laughed heartily. A motorcycle roared down the street.

“Well, it all started when he and his friends were in middle school…”

Hux heard the front door fly open.

“’ONLINE SAFETY IS A MYTH’? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!!!!!” A woman’s voice shrieked, accompanied by the stomping of boots.

Ben buried his face in the palm of his hand.

“Oh Jesus Christ…” he whispered .

Leia turned to Hux, smiling.

“I’ll let her tell that story—Rey, dear! How are you?” She called towards the door.


	24. CH 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner with Leia and Ben's friends goes well, but what will happen when Ben gets an invitation from someone unexpected?
> 
> Also, Ben Solo is a meme.

Rey was a petite woman, probably the same age as Ben. She wore a flannel button down with the sleeves rolled to her elbows and jeans tucked into a sustainable pair of boots. She hugged Leia with one arm, and had a motorcycle helmet in the other. She had a pretty face with a freckled nose and a blunt bob haircut.

“Hey there, idiot!” She said, rushing to Ben and embracing him.

“Watch it, I am actually holding a knife.” He said laughing.

“Whatever dude. I know you won’t stab me.”

“Aww, look at your hair!” He said once Rey let go. She smiled and tucked a piece behind her ear.

Hux was astonished. Ben never sounded like that with him. They must be very close.

“Aww, you’re too sweet!”

“You’re almost not ugly anymore!”

She punched him hard in the shoulder.

“Goddamn, woman!” he yelled, rubbing his shoulder and wincing.

This was never who he imagined being Ben’s closest friend. And yet, it was so fitting. She spun around, gaping at Hux.

“Holy fuck! It’s you!” she yelled before tackling him. No wonder Ben had acted like that punch hurt. It probably did. “Let me look at you, you precious sweet child!” she crooned, holding Hux’s face in her hands. This made Hux uncomfortable. Was this a real person or a cartoon character?

“Hello, Rey. It’s… nice to meet you?”

“Damn, boy!” Rey said, turning to Ben. “This one’s waaaaayyyyy out of your league!”

“Oh, fuck you too.” Ben hissed, resuming vegetable chopping where Leia had left off.

“Now that’s all over with,” Rey began, ignoring Ben. “WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING, TELLING A BUNCH OF FIRST GRADERS ABOUT ANONYMOUS?!?!?!”

“How do you even know about that?!” He did not look up from the vegetables.

“You’re trending! Some kid videotaped it and their brother put it on Twitter.” She set down her helmet on the table and pulled her phone from her pocket.

“Little fuckers…” Ben muttered while viciously chopping an onion.

The door swung open again. 

“DUDE, YOU’RE A MEME NOW!”

“Oh, that must be Tyler!” Leia exclaimed cheerily.

Tyler wore cargo shorts, a T-shirt for a band Hux had never heard of before and had a messy ponytail. 

“His friends are just as eclectic as him, I suppose.”

“Hey, Leia. Hey Brendol. Nice to see you’re not made up.” Hux nodded to Tyler.

“Shut up!” 

“Have you seen this one, Ben?” 

“No, I haven’t seen anything yet!”

“Rey was just informing both of us about Ben’s newfound internet notoriety.” Hux added.

“Oh cool. But check this out!”

Hux went over to the counter where Ben, Rey and Leia were crowded around Tyler’s phone.

Hux recognized the classroom from earlier in the day. It was well into Ben’s presentation and he was starting to pace. There was music accompanying the video; an upbeat techno melody began over Ben’s voice, which had been auto tuned into intricate riffs, harmonizing with the music.

_“If anyone ever threatens you or makes you uncomfortable online_  
the cops can’t help you because they don’t know even know what twitter is  
You screen cap everything they say  
And you send it to anonymous!  
Those idiots will wish they’d never been born!” 

“It’s got almost a million views.” Rey added. 

What the hell had he just watched?

“Well great…” Ben sighed. 

“Nah, dude. This is like the biggest publicity Starkiller’s ever had! Have you seen their stocks today? You breaking the internet has been HUGE for them!”

“Still. Do you have any idea how to speak to children?” Rey asked.

“Not really.” Ben replied. 

“Well let me give you some advice. It involves not mentioning 4chan!” she scolded.

Hux exchanged a glance with Leia, who returned his look of exasperation. 

Rey laughed and ruffled Ben’s hair. 

“Aw, fuck it. It’s pretty goddamn hilarious.” she said, giggling. Ben smiled back and then went to the pot of boiling water and added a bag of quinoa.

“So then,” Tyler began, scowling as he turned to Hux. 

“This is the legendary Brendol.”

“In the flesh.” Hux replied. 

“It’s alright, Tyler. He’s all good, he’s not gonna hurt our little Ben!” Rey said.

“I can take care of myself, guys!” Ben protested.

“No you can’t!” Rey and Tyler both responded in unison.

Rey looked at Hux.

“It’s nothing against you, of course. You just get really protective of people you’ve known your whole life. You know?”

“Of course!” Hux was protective of Phaz… In his own special way. He was becoming more protective of Ben as well. 

_“Wait a minute…”_

These two were the same children in that amazingly awkward photo Leia had sent him.

“Rey?” Hux called from the table.

“Yeah?” she asked from the kitchen where she was grabbing a beer. 

“Who are The Knights of Ren?” 

Rey burst into laughter. Ben looked like he’d hoped Hux forgot all about Leia mentioning it. 

“Ben never told you about our band?!” Tyler exclaimed.

“A band? Really?” 

_“Revenge is sweet.”_

“TYLER NO.” Ben looked mortified.

“What? You never told him about Kylo Ren?”

“Not you too, Rey.” Ben’s eyes were pleading for them to shut up.

“Aww, don’t be like that Ben! The eyeliner looked great on you!” Leia added.

“I bet you still know all the words to ‘Torn Apart’!” Rey teased. 

“I TRIED TO KILL THE CALL TO THE LIGHT  
BUT MY BLEEDING HEART WON’T LET IT GO  
YOU LEFT ME DYING IN THE SNOW  
TORN APART BY THE DARKNESS IN MY  
(Rey banged out a little drum solo on the countertop)  
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUULL!!!!” 

Ben’s friends (plus Leia) belted together. Hux wondered how many hundreds of times Ben, Rey and Tyler sang this song in this very house. There were tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. At this point, all Ben could do was roll his eyes in silence. 

“I hope you’re happy…” Ben said, glaring at Hux.

“Incredibly so.” He leaned over the counter and kissed Ben on the forehead.

“Just shut up and eat your dinner.” Ben mumbled, pushing a plate of some sort of quinoa dish towards him.

 _“It actually looks good.”_ Hux realized, surprised.  
……………………..

Hux was very pleased with how the night had gone. Ben’s little family was odd, but they were warm and welcoming. He’d never experienced anything quite like it. 

_“Maybe it’s because you never want to meet people’s families…”_

Probably. But Hux was willing to do uncomfortable and frightening things if they were for Ben. And in the end, it hadn’t even been so terrible. He felt as though Leia had excepted him as her own child, just as she undoubtedly had for Rey and Tyler. It was nice being around her, feeling that maternal warmth. And even in their suspicion, Rey and Tyler were so welcoming. It was amazing seeing how much they all loved Ben. Seeing the kind of people who had made him the bizarre yet lovable man he was. Hux smiled to himself at the thought as he rinsed his hair in the shower. 

“Shower’s all yours now.” He called, grabbing a towel as he stepped out. 

The room was silent. 

“Ben?”

He opened the the door into the room. Ben was laying face down on the floor.

“What’s wrong now?” Hux had long ago grown accustomed to Ben laying on the floor for any number of reasons. 99% of them were minor and trivial.

“We’re dead.” He croaked.

“What do you mean?”

He flopped over and covered his face with his hands. 

“Ugh….”

“What’s wrong, Ben?” he said approaching Ben and kneeling down next to him.

“My mom told my dad we’re in town and now he’s texting me!” he blurted.

“So?”

“SO?! I haven’t spoken to that fucker in years. He doesn’t even know about…” he gestured vaguely to Hux.

“Us?” Hux asked.

“He doesn’t even know I’m gay.”

Hux flinched.

“He’s kind of…. You know, he was always trying to get me to ‘be a man’ or whatever the fuck…. So dumb.”

“Ah.” 

This was unprecedented.

“It’ll be fine.” Hux said, propping Ben up and embracing him.

“Thanks.” Ben replied weakly putting his arms around Hux in return.

“Just don’t freak out if he asks me where my girlfriend is or some shit.”

Hux laughed. Ben’s slow breath was warm against his bare shoulder. He ran a hand through his boyfriend’s messy locks. 

“So just talking to him isn’t an option, is it?”

“We’re not on the best of terms exactly.” 

Hux could identify with that. 

“The whole used to be a drug dealer thing?” He ventured a guess.

“I never really cared about what he did for a living… It’s more complicated than that. We had a… falling out.”

“What happened?”

Ben pulled away from the embrace. He had that conflicted look in his dark eyes. He bit his lower lip as he searched for words. 

“That bad?” Hux asked.

“When I was sixteen…” Ben began.

“Well, I may or may not have stabbed my own father with a fork?” He put the statement out cautiously with an upward inflection. 

“YOU WHAT?”

“Christ, Brendol!” Ben rolled his eyes.

“You fucking stabbed someone?!” 

“Look, I know it’s bad. I don’t need you telling me shit I already know. I was on some pretty hard drugs.”

“WHY?!”

“Does it even matter? It was all really dumb. I shouldn’t have done it. I feel pretty stupid about the whole thing now…”

 _“Well this should be fun…”_

“It’s not like we never talked after that, it’s just things were always weird afterwards. Nothing was the same.” He continued.

“I can’t imagine why…”

“Okay, fuck you.”

“Look, Ben. We’ve all done things we’re not proud of. I know you’d never do something like that now… Right?”

“Shut up.” Ben replied with a low, quiet laugh and messed up Hux’s still wet hair. 

“Well, are we gonna do it? Are we going to see your father?” Hux asked.

“I guess I should. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“Ben, I am always here for you. I’m going, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.” He put is hands on Ben’s shoulders and drew him close into a kiss. Ben melted into the embrace, and Hux continued kissing him breathless as their limbs entwined on the carpet and he felt a hand snatch the towel off of him….

……………….

It was a warmer than usual day, and very sunny. 

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Hux asked, looking around the streets. It looked as though they had stepped into a wormhole which transported them back to the 60s, or at least one of the wilder party districts in Amsterdam. 

“Oh yes.” Ben replied, scrolling through the directions on his Kyber. He pocketed the phone. 

“It says the address should be somewhere on this… Son of a Bitch.” Ben glared down the street. 

Immediately, Hux knew exactly what Ben was staring at. It was a Medical marijuana dispensary with a neon green sign, reading: HAN AND CHEWY’S WARP SPEED WEED. 

“You weren’t kidding.” 

“Nope.” Ben said, looking down the street at the sign and rolling his eyes. “Nice to see Uncle Chewy’s still alive, though. Somehow.” He added with a thoughtful expression.

“Who is… Uncle Chewy?” 

“Dad’s old war buddy and partner in crime. They’re always in on their crazy schemes together. He's, like, an actual gang member.”

“Can I ask how he got the name Chewy?” Hux asked tentatively and not certain he wanted to know the answer.

“One time he bit a guy’s ear off.” Ben answered far too casually.

“He what?!” 

“Oh yeah.”

“Think he’s ever killed anyone?”

“Definitely.”

What had Hux gotten himself into?

“BEN!”

Just then, the door flung open and two men rushed out the door and down the street towards them. Hux could have recognized Han Solo from a mile away. Ben certainly got more of his looks from Leia, but the dark, glimmering eyes and the swaggering, larger than life body language was unmistakable. The second was a refrigerator of a man with a bushy gray beard and a slicked back pony tail. His arms were covered in calligraphy tattoos and a stylized picture of a terrifying bear-like monster. 

_“That must be Chewy.”_

Hux had no trouble believing he’d bit a man’s ear off. He looked like he could rip someone’s arms right out of their sockets.

_“Who am I kidding? He’s probably done that too.”_

Han ran up and hugged Ben, who’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull. 

“GOOD TO SEE YOU, KID!” He exclaimed.

“Hey dad.” Ben said with a nod. Hux smiled nervously.

Chewy picked up Ben like a rag doll and squeezed him tightly. Hux thought Ben’s eyes might really pop out of his skull this time. Chewy said something in a language that sounded like Chinese to Hux.

“Good to see you too, Uncle Chewy. Put me down.” Ben said in a strained voice. 

“When Leia said you were in town, me and Chewy here just knew we had to see you!” Han pointed to the sign and looked at Ben with a grin. 

“So, what do you think? Pretty great, huh? Your old dad’s finally gone legit!”

“Well, that should definitely put a few years back on your life expectancy.” Ben said, laughing.

“Nah, there’s still plenty of people who’d love to put a few holes in your dad and old Chewy!”

“Glad to hear nothing’s changed.” Ben sighed.

“Don’t you worry, e're both still packin’ heat!” He whispered to Ben, patting him on the shoulder reassuringly.

“Great…”

Just then, Chewy looked over at Hux and whispered to Han. Hux froze. Han looked over at Hux, then Ben and then back to Hux. He scanned him up and down menacingly.

“Who the fuck are you supposed to be?” Han asked.


End file.
